Yesterday, we went to Nathan and Meagan’s church because Nathan was graduating from a Bible school he attended each Tuesday and Thursday night for the past year. Sarah and Gage came too, so it was special for us all to be together and celebrate his dedication and diligence in learning more about prayer and the Bible.
Here’s Nathan and his proud family. He could never have accomplished this without the enormous amount of support and help he got from Meagan. The two of them truly believe in supporting each other’s dreams and goals.
I saw this building a couple of weeks ago and had to pull over to get a closer look. Whenever I see old structures, I always think about all the people who have walked in and out of those doors, and how different their experiences, habits, and lives were from ours. So interesting to take a peak into the past
Tinker and Belle continue to enrich our lives in so many ways.
However, there is one thing that we are struggling with that is making us a bit crazy; they are not good sleepers. (They sleep with us.) Most nights, we are wakened at least once by one or both of them needing to go outside. If they do manage to make it through the night, Tinker is always up by 4:30 a.m.
That’s not a huge deal during the week because that’s when I get up anyway. But on the weekend? Not great.
If you have any suggestions for us about how to deal with this situation, we are all ears.
The other night, I had some mashed potatoes left over and about 4 or 5 strips of thin-cut steak. There really wasn’t enough for a meal for both of us but I wanted to use it up. So I got the idea of making a Shepherd’s Pie with diced steak instead of ground beef. I made a quick gravy, added a can of Veg-all, put some cheese around the outside for extra color, and had it ready to go in no time at all.
Since I got the meat as a leftover from a meal at work, it was a low-cost and delicious meal that fed us twice.
Last weekend I finally got the gumption to clean out a few of my storage areas where I keep things I don’t use every day.
The thing that amazes me about jobs like this is that I always put them off, thinking they will take such a long time. But once I got started, this task only took about thirty minutes. (By the way, I’m trying to make a habit of living by the cleaning mantra: “Don’t put it down: put it away.”)
I remember Vernie using those green floral hot pads the first time I came to the house in 1981. So wonderful to still have them. The little easel thing beside them is their holder.
I know it looks like Steve is building wooden dentures for a whale but it is actually part of stairs he is building for our deck. He’s never built stairs for a deck before but his motto is, “How hard can it be?”
In the midst of step-building, he also took some doors down and cut an inch from the bottoms of them to allow for better airflow in the house.
Re-hanging a door.
He panted the hinges to match the rest of the metal in the house. He stuck the screws in cardboard to be able to spray paint them easier and give them a place to dry. I thought it made for an interesting picture.
We got a dusting of snow last week–our first bit of snow in Charlotte since 2022. Nathan and Meagan sent a video of the kids running around in. (They got more than we did.) Those were some happy former Floridian grands!
Our beautiful roses were given a coat of white.
My sister, Ruth, had a couple of friends over for a fall lunch in early November. Ruth always puts on such an attractive spread with things she picks up from various yard sales and thrift stores. It is virtually impossible for her not to make things beautiful.
Nathan and his family went to Florida for Thanksgiving and while they were there, got this photo of the whole clan. It always amazes me that when two people fall in love, they are multiplied many times over. I, for one, am thankful Frank and Sheri fell in love. They gave us such an amazing daughter-in-law, not to mention providing half of the wonderfulness of our four grandkids.
And that brings us to the end of our December things.
And speaking of December, there are only fifteen days till Christmas. I haven’t bought one thing and our tree is not up. We are the world’s greatest procrastinators when it comes to Christmas; I guess this is the week to get busy.
What about you?
Do you have a traditional time you put your tree up?
What’s the most memorable (either for good or bad reasons) Christmas present you ever got?
Do you have any advice for us about our dogs and their sleep habits?
What is one thing you’re looking forward to this week?
I totally live by the mantra of ‘don’t set it down, just put it away while it’s in your hand’. It is just so much easier than picking it back up and doing it later and it really prevents clutter from forming.
We were looking forward to the ballet performance of the Nutcracker over the weekend. Our granddaughter was in it for the 3rd year in a row. She is 11 and an aspiring ballerina. Her parts in the show get bigger each year. Her teacher (and studio owner) is the producer and choreographer of the show every year and does such a fabulous job! Such a wonderful production and so professional! It truly is something to behold!!
I love your thing posts! Sorry for being so late about commenting on this one….busy times!
Lee Anne,
How fun to see your granddaughter dance in such a beautiful ballet! I am in awe of those young women who float around so effortless on the stage like they are hardly even breaking a sweat. I would need 4 dozen trips to the chiropractor if I tried even one of those moves. I know your family is very proud of her.
Yes, I am definitely trying to put things away and not put them down. It’s good to get it taken care of immediately and not to have go back and do it later.
This year I actually got my tree up BEFORE Thanksgiving, which is a record for me. However, that’s as far as I’ve gotten. I still need to bring in the totes to decorate the fireplace and everything else. As always, I enjoyed your “Thing” post. The pictures of the old company store really struck me, as I associate them with coal mines, including the abandoned one next to my grandmother’s company house in WV. I wonder kind of company this store was for…maybe textile if it’s near you in the Charlotte area.
Sue Ellen,
I was also fascinated that it was a company store and not just a general store like you normally see. If the one in WV is still standing, it would be so cool to be allowed to walk through it. Buildings like that are so interesting to me; so much history and memories all mixed together.
You did great getting your tree up before Thanksgiving; I’m impressed!
I’m waiting for someone to comment on how to train the dogs to sleep in. My 8.5 year-old beagle wakes up insanely early expecting to eat. I wont feed her before 5 am but she tries anyway. Sometimes she does need to go outside to potty. She also demands her dinner at 5 pm. How do they know what time it is?
Hope,
Oh my. I feel your pain. And I wish I (or a reader) had advice for you.
I can deal with the early mornings; the middle of the night awakenings are harder to cope with.
We did have some friends mention Melatonin for dogs. I wondered about trying that just long enough to establish a new sleep cycle. Also, when the time changes again, that will make it seem like your beagle is getting up an hour later so . . . hold on to hope! 🙂 And tell your beagle that Tinker and Belle say hi.
Love the old building photos.
We don’t have a specific time to put up the tree. This year it is only a mini tree as I just didn’t have time before, and with some hand surgery the 17th I won’t be able to pack up all the decorations after Christmas.
Two special gifts are 1-a fun factory toy I got as a kid, I didn’t see it with all my other gifts and was ok that I didn’t get it. Then I saw it under the chair and it was a big bonus to get it. 2-a bottle of cayenne pepper that my fiance gave me the Christmas before we got married. He knew I used it a lot and it was to be left at his house for when I ate there.
No ideas on the dogs as I never had any.
I am looking forward to my last craft sale of the year. Love doing them, but ready for a break.
Patty,
I’d never even heard of a Fun Factory and had to look it up. So nice to see it unexpectedly after thinking you didn’t get it!
We hosted a few craft shows at our church and got a first-hand view of how much work it is for the crafters. Enjoy your time off and I hope your hand surgery goes very well!
I don’t know how hard it would be to pad train older dogs but if they used pads inside the house you could add doggy steps beside your bed so they could get in and out by themselves and they could go use the pads during the night. Our Yorkie is an inside only doggie. I trained her to use pads all the time and she has never been outside except when we carry her ourselves. She loves to run around on our back patio and won’t go down the steps because she is afraid of them.. which is good for us because we know she can run around as long as she wants to and not go wandering off. I love that I don’t have to take her outside ever…especially in bad weather. Just a thought. Merry Christmas to you and your family and may God bless you with much family time.
Kaye,
How nice that your Yorkie can enjoy being outside on the patio without you having to worry she’ll wonder off. Steve is going to build two gates on our deck so that we can put Tinker and Belle out there to enjoy the sunshine and fresh air.
I’d thought about getting some steps for the bed; glad to know you found a solution that works so well for you. Merry Christmas to you!
Yeah, and per Ruth’s comment on exploring the building, I’d be right behind you both saying, “Girls! Be careful, it could be dangerous! ” 😁
So proud of Nathan and Meagan and all they do to make their lives rich and meaningful.
Ruth’s tables are always beautiful as is all her decorating!
I’m not feeling it as far as getting Christmas decor up this year. At least the tree is up and lights are on but my full holiday bins are sending judgey vibes in my direction. Sigh.
Kudos to Steve and his stair building! You’ll have to get his “How hard can it be?” motto embroidered on a pillow or inscribed in the cornerstone or something! That’s actually a great life question. And it applies to my Christmas decorating. I guess I have no excuse now! Bummer.
Well, I had an initial thought of making this like a two sentence comment, but as per usual I have gone on at considerable length. So I’m going to stop my rambles and go–with authority, mind you–take a lid off a bin!
Tootles! ❤️🙂
Deb
Deb,
Yes, we would make quite the trio trying to examine an old, falling down building with me taking pictures, Ruth examining every little thing and you being worried we would all be dismembered. 🙂
I’m always glad when your two-sentencers go on and on. It brightens my day to read your witticisms. Hope your decorating gets done soon. Steve brought the boxes up from the basement yesterday so that’s a step in the right direction. Now we’ll see how many days we just sit and look at the boxes. 🙂
You did good to be adventuresome making
Up a leftover recipe. Looks brand new!
(Fun time in the kitchen!)
I like Steve’s wooden “dentures”…. man with a great creative mind!
The old building is worth stopping for- –
A nostalgic “walk through.” I would be right behind you.
Ruth
Ruth,
Old buildings are so fabulous; I love them all!
Yes, I do like being creative in the kitchen, especially taking leftovers that looks like “not much” and making something tasty with them.