What are you doing?

[CatPat]

I'm woefully behind, but still hoping and praying for many of you. I haven't had a moment to myself.

I'm catching up upon my classes and recording every word of DA's and Mamma's life and typing these out, helping Papa with other things for our new Catina, and helping Carl deal with his Mom. The ex-boyfriend is being a name I cannot say here and so he is causing very much trouble.

But Carl's Mom is standing very firm, she has her friend with her, and of course she has Carl and me. Carl's Mom, I'll call her CM for Carl's Mom, bought Carl a nice truck since her house was paid off. It's a very nice 2003 Toyota Tacoma 4X4 short bed with only 47,000 miles on it. Carl and I are so very proud! He loves driving me around in it. It has an extra seating space where Azia can ride in the back of the cab, not the bed.

Since we called a finish to any romance for now, this is very odd. We really do love each other! We understand family comes first and I am there for to support Carl and his Mom. He is all there for me with everything, and the plans for next summer to Romania stand in place. He will go with me! So will Laki!

We will build upon this friendship and our feelings. As I see things happening, I don't think Carl will want me for his wife. But I do see us being the greatest of friends, with a little love there, maybe.

Who knows? Time will tell.

Right now I must be very strong for CM, for the ex-boyfriend is someone I would like to drop a boat anchor upon his windpipe and I'm angry.

With love,
~Cat

 

[Cheryl J]

It sure sounds like you did get a straight up guy, dawg. How lucky for you, since you had to be far away and put your trust in someone else. It's still hard though, isn't it? My mom passed away in March of 2011 and other than her clothes, I still have most of her things. Much is of no value to anyone other than me. I still need to go through some boxes, it's not realistic to keep as much as I've kept. We lived in the same town though, and so everything is local. Makes it a bit easier to procrastinate, unfortunately.

 

[Cheryl J]

Sending warm thoughts and prayers to you, Cat. You have a lot to deal with at such a young age, and you seem to be such a strong young lady. Lean on your close friends and family when you need to.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

...I want whoever cleans out my house to remember me for a looooong time

Me too, Pac. I want my kids to have to clean out a big mess of junk! Payback for all they put me through!

I'm of the opposite mindset. I had so much of my Mom's and Dad's and Aunt's and Great Aunt's stuff to go through when I finally inherited my parents' house that I felt completely overwhelmed. Seriously, did my Mom really need to keep her Mom's dentures? I don't need our kids having to sort through all the crap I've saved. I need to move it out for my own peace of mind...and the size of that piece of my mind grows smaller every day.

************

Speaking of minds, I'm going nuts right now smelling Bakechef's brownies cooling! Got a taste for brownies around 9:30 tonight and decided that NOW was when I would finally get around to trying his recipe. They smell so good...

 

[CatPat]

I'm of the opposite mindset. I had so much of my Mom's and Dad's and Aunt's and Great Aunt's stuff to go through when I finally inherited my parents' house that I felt completely overwhelmed. Seriously, did my Mom really need to keep her Mom's dentures? I don't need our kids having to sort through all the crap I've saved. I need to move it out for my own peace of mind...and the size of that piece of my mind grows smaller every day.

************

Speaking of minds, I'm going nuts right now smelling Bakechef's brownies cooling! Got a taste for brownies around 9:30 tonight and decided that NOW was when I would finally get around to trying his recipe. They smell so good...

DA kept her mother's dentures and also her wood leg. She kept her father's razor and her sister's collection of dog and cat hairs and whiskers.

It's odd.

With love,
~Cat

 

[CatPat]

Sending warm thoughts and prayers to you, Cat. You have a lot to deal with at such a young age, and you seem to be such a strong young lady. Lean on your close friends and family when you need to.

Thank you! I will lean on them when I can't lean on myself, yes?

With love,
~Cat

 

[Cooking Goddess]

That is a good plan Cat. Your post made me think of this old song:

Bill Withers - Lean on me - YouTube

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Going for my Dexa scan....plan on making cheese when I get home.

 

[CarolPa]

I'm of the opposite mindset. I had so much of my Mom's and Dad's and Aunt's and Great Aunt's stuff to go through when I finally inherited my parents' house that I felt completely overwhelmed. Seriously, did my Mom really need to keep her Mom's dentures? I don't need our kids having to sort through all the crap I've saved. I need to move it out for my own peace of mind...and the size of that piece of my mind grows smaller every day.

************

I understand what you're saying. Part of the problem is, when our kids moved out, they left a lot of their stuff here because they had nowhere to store it. Half of what's in the attic is theirs. We asked them about it a couple times and they said throw it away, they didn't want it. But DH will not do that. He says maybe someday they will change their minds and if they want to throw it away after we're gone, then that's their decision.

While they're at it, they can throw away any of our stuff that they don't want, or divide it between them. Nothing is of a value to be considered an "estate", but it's useable, like my cookbook collection or DH's garage full of power tools. After this past weekend, DS already wants to trade snow blowers with us because his new house has a huge driveway and we only have a short driveway.

 

[Aunt Bea]

I'm a pack rat by nature and yes, I do have my Grandfathers false teeth!

I'm working on coming to terms with my "stuff" now that I am getting too old and tired to lug it around by myself. I have finally come to understand that keeping it in boxes in the closet and under the bed is just another form of waste. This quote from Basil the Great has been a great help to me as I sort through my "stuff".

“When someone steals another's clothes, we call them a thief. Should we not give the same name to one who could clothe the naked and does not? The bread in your cupboard belongs to the hungry; the coat unused in your closet belongs to the one who needs it; the shoes rotting in your closet belong to the one who has no shoes; the money which you hoard up belongs to the poor.”

It isn't easy watching the things that you and your loved ones worked for being carted off to the thrift store, I would advise young folks to travel light and accumulate memories instead of "stuff"!

That's the view from the top of Fools hill this blustery winter morning!

 

[CarolPa]

That is a good quote. I DID have plans for after Christmas, to go through all my clothes and get rid of what I don't want. First choice will go to my daughter, and the rest will be donated. I'm not sure where I will donate it. Goodwill and the Salvation Army sell it. I would like to donate it to a place where they "give" it to those who need it. There are such places, such as women's shelters, etc. We shop at Goodwill sometimes and many of the people I see buying clothes there are those looking to buy designer clothes for a low price. I would rather donate to someone's who's really down and out and has a need rather than give it to someone looking to make a buck.

 

[Addie]

We used to have a place in Boston called "Rosie's Place." It was a home for abused women. They were always looking for clothing that was suitable for work. During my working days, I always sent my no longer needed clothes there.

I need to get into both my closets and really clean them out. One closet I don't even open. There are clothes in there I will never wear again.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

What I need is to have a friend come over and go through my clothes, getting rid of things. I am too attached to some clothing and I know it doesn't look nice on me. I will have the steer them clear of my t-shirt drawer.

 

[Addie]

What I need is to have a friend come over and go through my clothes, getting rid of things. I am too attached to some clothing and I know it doesn't look nice on me. I will have the steer them clear of my t-shirt drawer.

I have T shirt nightgowns that I love. I live in them.

 

[Zhizara]

ION Network TV Schedule | LocateTV

This should help. You can look up your local station and times.

I had asked for any specific time so I wouldn't have to spend a lot of time scrolling through days of programming schedules, but thanks anyway, Addie.

I tried Googling and found it is on today at 3:30.

I don't know why I didn't think of doing that before. Whenever I'm looking for information on a show I've started watching, it also tells when upcoming episodes are being aired. Duh!

 

[CarolPa]

This thread actually got me to go downstairs and go through the clothes. There were some things that I swear are from the 80's. Polyester dress pants. LOL There are a lot of tee shirts that are good but too small for me. My step-daughter might want those. They would be nice with shorts in the summer. Some of the newer things are from 20 lbs ago and I'm not ready to give up on losing those 20 lbs. I went from 5 space bags to 2 1/2. That's pretty good!

 

[PrincessFiona60]

I just made 2 pounds of Mozzarella from a gallon of milk, am now attempting ricotta from the whey. This is so cool!!!

 

[CarolPa]

I just made 2 pounds of Mozzarella from a gallon of milk, am now attempting ricotta from the whey. This is so cool!!!

How did you do that? Inquiring minds want to know!

 

[PrincessFiona60]

I got a cheese making kit for Christmas. A little citric acid and a rennet tablet, heat, time and a gallon of milk...mozzarella!!!

Latté approves, too. She's had almost an ounce of it so far. The rest might not make it to the fridge.

 

[pacanis]

Fi, can we have a link to your kit?

Do you know yet if it is economical, or just a way to control what goes into your cheese?