I'LL BE BACK

Sorry folks but I am very sick with a major upper respiratory infection. So I am taking a week off to recover. See you when I am feeling better.

WHAT I'M READING: THE TROUBLE WITH ANGELS by Debbie Macomber (2018/4)

2018 -- book 4 -- The Trouble with Angels by Debbie Macomber (1994)

I've actually read three books since I last posted about my reading list.  This is the first of the three.  Debbie Macomber is one of my favorite authors.  I have so many of her books.  She is always a good and fast read.  I was straightening up and picked this up off of the floor.  So I decided to read it.  Again.

Summary:

A Season for Giving...and Loving.  It is a time for joy and gladness -- yet even the wonder of Christmas cannot brighten lives burdened by loneliness and despair.  So when three "rush" prayers fly up from the City of Angels, three real angels fly down to earth to answer the call.  And this is no ordinary celestial trio, but Shirley, Goodness and Mercy -- incomparable, irrepressible, and somewhat outrageous heavenly helpers dedicated to abolishing sadness in their own special fashions.  It will take more than one miracle, however, to mend the broken hearts they've come to repair.  But Shirley, Goodness and Mercy are on the case -- and they're not going to disappear before they deliver the best holiday gift of all:  love.

My review:

I love the Shirley, Goodness and Mercy books.  There is quite a series of them now.  I was introduced to them -- and Debbie Macomber -- by my friend, Debbie.  And I'm so glad.  She writes awesome books.  I have an entire tote full of them that I want to get to this year.  The angel stories are fun and yes, I know they are just fiction.  I don't believe God works the way these books say.  But they are a good read and really show human nature and how we need to be better to each other and ourselves.  And, of course, who couldn't use a good, clean romance now and then.

THE PANTRY MAKEOVER CONTINUES

That was me this morning.  I was so convinced that it was Wednesday that I even took my Wednesday medication instead of Tuesday's.  Oh well.  I'll just take Tuesday's on Wednesday.  It all works out in the end.

I finally had a day where I could stay home.  They are few and far between.  I made chicken salad sandwiches for lunch.  I had one chicken thigh left over from dinner the other night and got three sandwiches out of it.  That's called stretching the budget.  They were really good too.

After we ate I asked Joe to help me with the pantry.  My back is really hurting me and I knew I couldn't do it myself.  He and I pulled everything off of the second shelf and sorted them by what they were:  pasta, potatoes, bread crumbs, etc.  Then Joe washed down the shelf and we put things back.  Well, mostly Joe.  I never knew how good he was at getting things to fit like a jigsaw puzzle.  Again, I was amazed at how much stuff was on the shelf.

I was also surprised by how much of everything we had.  I found some jars to put the popcorn into.  I don't think I will need to buy any for awhile.

And pasta!  We have enough pasta to last us for months.  I had no idea.  That's what happens when things get pushed to the back of the shelf.  In order to save room, I took some containers we saved from take out food Joe had ordered.  I put the noodles and spätzle in them along with the package all folded up.  That way I knew what they were and had the cooking directions.

Look how neatly Joe stacked them at the back of the shelf.  But now I know they are there.

And here is the finished shelf.  We couldn't fit the tortellini in so we are having it for dinner.  And the stuffing will be gone this weekend when I have our pork chops.  It's still tight, but now I will actually use things up.  You can see the little label I put on the shelf to let us know what is there.

I thanked Joe for helping me and he wanted to do the next shelf.  So we did.  Tea and hot chocolate.  The basket I bought at Target a couple of weeks ago holds most of the tea.  The hot chocolate is in a basket behind it.  Now we can easily pull out what we would like to drink.  I have lots of tea.  All kinds of tea.

There is one more shelf to go but the pantry is looking so good.

My quest to downsize and clean the kitchen continues!

Kathy

CHINESE NEW YEAR -- THE YEAR OF THE DOG

Happy New Year!  Or should I say Gung Hoy Fat Choy?  I love Chinese New Year.  I celebrate it each year.  This year was sort of low key, however because Joe is still sick.

Let me tell you what I found out about this year -- the year of the dog.  Although each of the twelve animals gets an outing every dozen years, there are different varieties -- and 2018 will be the first Year of the Earth Dog since 1958.  The other dogs are earth, fire, wood and water.

Anyone born in an Earth Dog year will be communicative, serious, and responsible in the workplace.

Often the Chinese New Year is a time for families to gather for a Reunion Dinner.  All the family members possible come together for a special meal.  It is also a time for thoroughly cleaning the whole house to sweep away bad fortune and make room for good luck to come into your home.  (A total fail for me on that one!)  Windows and doors are decorated with red colored paper cut out shapes and poems with popular themes of "good luck", "happiness", "wealth", and "longevity".  Other activities include lighting firecrackers and giving money in red paper envelopes although many young people these days have set up "Red Accounts" at their bank so their relatives can send them money electronically.  Ah the pleasures of modern life.  Many people (including us) eat dumplings.

Even though Joe wasn't feeling so good, we still had "lucky" food for dinner.  I went to the Chinese restaurant down the street from us and got pork lo mein and dumplings.  Long noodles for long life and the dumplings look like money bags for wealth.  It was really good and we finished the whole thing.  But...  when I opened my fortune cookie there was no fortune.  It was completely empty.  Does that mean I have no fortune?  This is not a good thing.  Joe offered to share his with me but it's not the same.

I'll end for today with some pictures of the Lion Parade here in Philadelphia.

Happy Sunday!  I'm heading for church now.  We are accepting a new member into our fellowship today and I want to be there to see it.

Kathy

Weather in Philadelphia:

Sunny

High:  46*F     Low:  33*F

Sunrise:  6:49 a.m.     Sunset:  5:39 p.m.

11 hours and 50 minutes of daylight!

PARTYING THE NIGHT AWAY

Last Saturday Joe and I went to a birthday party for our friend and next-door neighbor, Chrissy.  Chrissy was 2 years old when I moved into my house and now we were celebrating her 40th birthday.  Where did the time go?  Chrissy and I are very close.  She is like my little sister.  So going to celebrate with her was a no-brainer.

The party was held at Randi's, a local restaurant who has banquet rooms.  I had never been there before.  It was really nice.  And the food was out of this world delicious!

I was anxious about driving because the weather was terrible.  It was pouring!  I mean really badly pouring!!  Nothing like putting on nice clothes and getting soaked.  But we made it there just fine and when we came out around 10:00 p.m. it was raining but not as badly.

So let me show you some pictures from the evening.

Here is Chrissy with her brother, sister-in-law, aunt, nephew and niece.  They live two doors from us.  Yes, brother and sister live three doors apart.

Who's this guy?  Chrissy is in the background.

The happy birthday girl.  She looked so beautiful that night.  I loved it that she wore a tiara.

We were given these chocolate covered pretzels made by her sister-in-law, Kelly.  Kelly makes the best candy.  (And usually gives some to Joe and me for Christmas!)  The tag says 40 is fabulous.

There was a selfie booth with all kinds of props.  We were all having fun with it.

She got her birthday cake from Stock's Bakery, a rather famous bakery here in the city known for their delicious pound cakes.  This did not disappoint.

There was a cute little teddy bear sitting on a chair.  He was holding a bunch of black balloons with "40" on them.

Here's Chrissy in the selfie booth with her aunt and cousins.

And this guy again.  (shaking my head) He followed me around all night.

Cutting the cake.

 This balloon kept turning around and around in the breeze from the air handler.  I was fortunate enough to get it facing forward just as Chrissy turned around.  It says, "Another Year Fabulous"!

People were using sharpies to write messages on the poster.  I thought this was a great idea.  You get to keep this as a memory forever.

Here's the three of us.  The photographer took it for me.

 The place was crowded and everyone was having a good time.

We were the first to leave.  We had to get up for church the next morning and if we had stayed until the end it would have been midnight or after when we got home.  But we had such a fun time!  It has given me so many ideas for Joe's party in May.  I really have to get working on that.  It will be here before we know it.

Hope you enjoyed coming along with us.  Have a great day.

Kathy

Weather in Philly:

Cloudy

High:  58*F     Low:  28*F

Sunrise:  6:52 a.m.     Sunset:  5:37 p.m.

10 hours and 45 minutes of daylight.

VALENTINE'S DAY

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!  It has been a rather low key day for us.  Joe has been very sick with an upper respiratory infection.  We finally ended up calling the doctor last night.  His doctor is out of the country for three weeks, so another one of the doctors ordered him an antibiotic.  Unfortunately, the prescription was sent to the wrong pharmacy so we didn't end up getting it until today.  It's too soon to tell if it is helping, but it sure can't hurt.

I'm really not feeling all that great myself.  So I ended up ordering my groceries online and going to pick them up late this morning.  I love that ShopRite has that feature for me.  Although I would rather pick out my own food, when I can't walk through the store, this helps out a lot.

Joe spoiled me with Valentine's gifts.  Yesterday I received a huge bouquet from him.  It's gorgeous!

Of course he had the florist include one red rose.  It's our symbol of love.  Every year I get my one red rose in some form.

Besides this, he gave me a glass rose.  One that I can keep forever.

And then because he loves me, he got me Peeps.  Regular and strawberry cream.  He also got me two Reese's peanut butter cups hearts, but I already ate those.

Tonight Joe went to his Veteran's meeting so we didn't get to have our dinner.  That will be tomorrow night.

Hope you all had a wonderful day too.  Sorry I've been missing for awhile.  Just not feeling well.  I'll try to catch up with you all soon.

Kathy

THE BEGINNING OF A PANTRY MAKEOVER AND WHAT'S GOING ON TODAY

Poor little cardinal.  He looks so cold.  I'm happy to report that our cardinal couple has stuck around.  I see them all the time and I'm so happy they have decided to pick our neighborhood to make their nest.  Maybe I'll even get to see baby cardinals in the Spring.

This is going to be a short post because I am getting ready to go to a 40th birthday party for my neighbor and friend Chrissy.  It is a catered affair at a local restaurant and I am really looking forward to it.  Sounds like a lot of fun.

I wanted to share a few pictures with you.  First, I am making Joe a temperature blanket for his birthday.  He asked me to use his favorite color, blue.  I couldn't find enough different shades of blue to use so he said it was okay to add some green.  I went on Weather Underground's history page and found the temperatures for the first year of his life.  I began with his day of birth and will end on his first birthday.  So here is May 1958.

I would have preferred to knit it, but he wanted a crocheted ripple afghan.  And to see the smile on his face and his "I love it!" makes it worth while.  I am over half way finished with June and will show that to you when I am completely done.

We are trying so hard to declutter the house.  I must admit Joe is doing the majority of the work since my arthritis is really hurting me and I am having a hard time of it.  Living on pain killers is not fun.  We have SO MUCH to get rid of.  I don't know how two people can accumulate so much.  But you can see we are working by how much trash and recycling we put on the curb today.  Hurray for us!

The sky this morning was awesome as the sun came up.  It is supposed to rain this afternoon and tomorrow.  The third Sunday in a row that it has rained.  But at least it is not snow.  Temperatures are getting warmer and I think Spring is coming.

And finally, I am working on getting the pantry organized.  It is/was a mess.  I spent over half an hour just on the top shelf.  But what a difference!  Let's start with the before picture.

It doesn't look too bad, but everything was jumbled together and I couldn't fit all the cereal boxes in.  The open oatmeal box had just two pouches in it and a lot of the boxes were laying on their side in order to fit in.

I took everything out and put it on the table.  I couldn't believe how much stuff was in there.  I washed the shelf down with Mrs. Meyers Apple Crisp cleaning spray.  Then I became overwhelmed.  I got Joe out of bed and had him help me go through things, decide what to keep and what to throw away, and put things back.  I got a basket to put all my bagged mixes in.  I use these for Fellowship Time at church.  I make the treat once a month and these mixes are sometimes only $1 each.  So here is the finished shelf.

It looks so much neater and I can actually find things.  Some things got thrown out, some were consolidated, and everything is sorted -- cereal with cereal.  Cake mix with cake mix, etc.

Now just three more shelves and the storage unit over it.  I think I can do this.

I've not to run.  Hope you all have a good day.

Kathy

Weather in Philadelphia:
Mostly sunny/rain in p.m.
High:  50*F (10*C)     Low:  35*F (2*C)
Sunrise:  6:59 a.m.     Sunset:  5:30 p.m.
10 hours and 31 minutes of daylight