Monday, January 07, 2019

January 7, 2019--Monday noon

Good afternoon!
Annie is sleeping deeply beside me in her chair.
She loves the extra memory foam so much that she was taken unawares once again when Leah and Ian showed up yesterday--LOL!  I'm glad she loves it so.
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This past week, besides a lot of nose blowing, sniffling, and occasionally coughing--I worked on the bullet.  I wanted to get it totally set up for Jan-Mar.  I already showed you I got set up for January.
Now I am all set up for February... 

...and March. 


I wanted them all ready to go because I'm starting today (first Monday of the new year) on my 12-weeks of It's Never Too Late To Begin Again.
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I also got the skeletal work done on April...
...and May. 
And half the skeletal work is already done for the rest of the year.  Whoohoo!
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That kept me busy this week.  Nice to know I don't have to work on it any more till April if I am too busy.  :)
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I was very practical with Christmas money, as I told you.  But after Caroline got my groceries for me this month I was able to get a few goodies in January.  I knew I wanted to finally order the MISTI Corners set.  Plus I got a new set of cutting mats for the Vagabond.
After cutting a couple hundred pieces for cards... 
...both sides get basically destroyed. 
So now we can start wrecking a new one--LOL!
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I still have a few more smaller items coming I'll be able to show you as they arrive.  :)
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 Gramma Day was yesterday.  This one was a Mama and Gramma Day.  Leah brought with the two IKEA chairs Ariel (her sister) picked up for me in Minneapolis!!  
Ian and I warmed up the big screws for Mama--blowing into our hands. 
Ian collected the cardboard and plastic.  He's such a good helper.  Leah said they went together really easily. 
Here's Ian testing out the first chair.
As you can see, I had told Ian he could bring with his Lightning McQueen slippers.  
He decided he wanted pictures of them to show all of you.  From the tops... 
...the bottoms... 
...and the sides. 
He does love his car slippers.  ;)
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Leah also fixed the wheel on the IKEA cart.  (You can see my cart in the pantry filled with cardboard pieces Ian collected that I will haul out to the dumpster.)   
After examining closely the broken wheel spot it looked like it was the same wheel that fell off that she had repaired last time.  So she really globbed on more this time.  I can't touch it until 4pm today...but I might leave it a little longer to make sure it is totally cured.  Should be good to go now.  :)
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Leah set up the fitness tracker watch for me and even put up the new colored twinkling lights for me!  Hard to get a good picture in the daytime, but it is so nice to have them all working!  The other strands were both half dead.  Using them all year round they wear out faster.
Leah also helped me with a couple of computer things and she set the sounds on my new cell phone, too.  I need the alerts to be louder and got to pick the sounds for the phone and texts, etc.  Nice!  
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Ian did some tracing in his new books and we did sit in my chair together to watch a few Maru the Cat videos.  Next thing it was time to go home for dinner.  He seemed disappointed that we didn't have our alone time, but had to explain that I needed Mama to help me with a bunch of things this time so it was a Gramma Day with Mama, too.  
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Leah put a sign on the old lights--free partially working lights.  People set things by the door to give away and most things are gone shortly.  I haven't checked to see if they are gone yet today, though.  Haven't been down to get mail.
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Anyways, Ian was carrying the lights down and totally went right around the corner without our usual goodbyes because he was so intent on putting the lights on the cart in the entryway.  I shut the door...but a couple minutes later I heard a mitten padded knock at the door.  Mom was waiting for him down at the end of the hallway.  Ian was almost in tears telling me "I forgot I love you buh-byes".  I told him I had waited, but that was okay--he remembered and we could do it now.  So he went down the hall by Mama and we did our waves and goodbyes down the hallway--and off he went.    
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Times like that leave Gramma a bit misty-eyed.  :)
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I am sitting on a brand new rolly chair.  Laundry is going.  The colored lights are all twinkling.  Annie is snoring softly.  I'm almost done with the blog for this week.  I think it's time to check the mail and have some lunch.  
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Let the people you love and care about have no doubts.
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  Thanks to each and every one of you for commenting or just lurking.  ;) 
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Do something fun for no good reason. 
Have a great week!
Till next time...
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"Your success and happiness lie in you...Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties."
Helen Keller

15 comments:

Rita said...

Comment to get comments! :)

Divers and Sundry said...

Those rituals -for good-byes and other things- are important to us all. It helps us stay connected and build the loving relationships like you have with your family. So sweet :) Car slippers is a wonderful idea! Tell him I'm copying him the next time I'm a passenger in a car, though mine won't be as good as his. I love that color!

Far Side of Fifty said...

He remembered! So grateful you have Leah to fix stuff! Hope you have a wonderful week! Aloha

Bonnie said...

I enjoyed seeing your bullet journal. You have put a lot of work into it! I bet you were glad to get your IKEA cart repaired. It's difficult when we are used to having a storage space and then lose it, even temporarily. How sweet that Ian came back to love you! Aren't grandchildren wonderful!

DJan said...

You are so lucky to have such wonderful grandkids, not to mention Leah. You are indeed very blessed. I loved this post, Rita, filled with gratitude and love. :-)

Janie Junebug said...

Oh, Ian is sweet. You are so loved. I like his slippers.

Love,
Janie

Joy@aVintageGreen said...

Glad the sniffles and coughs are abating - Annie has settled in happily now - that extra comfy bed was a great incentive to have a good snooze. Your bullet journal preps are done way ahead! Sweet Leah help with the putting the chairs together, lights up, table wheel repaired plus soooo much practical and helpful tools running the way you want them now. Sweet Ian help with recycling. Ahhhh.

Gramma Day with Mamma Too Day with Ian - he handled it well and his goodbye's bring tears to my eyes. What a love. Love his red Lightening McQueen Car slippers.
Joy

Lady Fi said...

Awww - cute shots!

Jon said...

I hope you're feeling better and getting plenty of rest (like Annie!). I always envy your ability to be organized. My organization abilities seem to have abandoned me long ago...
Hey, I like Ian's car slippers!

TammyVitale said...

Ever full life! I don't know how you get any rest! Lovely all that family time, tho. Thanks for picture looking out to where the girls hang. It's really nice to get an idea of how your space looks for when I'm reading your pieces.

Yay for the new chairs. I need one for upstairs but that won't happen any time soon I'm focusing on upcycling a lot of pieces I have around the house right now - I do have a chair to upcycle (my dad's, I recovered it 20 years ago. I think it belonged to his family. So it's ready for a lot of work - and I might just put a very thick padded seat on it - tho it doesn't roll).

The bullet journal makes me tired just looking at it! <3

See you next week!

Anonymous said...

You are so damned organized. Ian is a love!!

Jo-Anne's Ramblings said...

Yes that bit about him forgetting hugs and bye byes was so cute, I bought Leo a cheap pair of slip on slippers for Christmas that he loves and wears all the bloody time.

Jenny Woolf said...

Ian is so adorable! I love to hear about him and see his photos. I hope you all have a happy and cheerful 2019 Rita!

Serena Lewis said...

Awww, Annie looks so sweet fast asleep and obviously content.

Sorry that you're dealing with a runny nose and cough...hope it clears off soon for you.

Well done on setting up thru til March. I usually set up month-by-month as I tend to change up how I work it. Good luck with the latest Julia Cameron book. I'm looking to start it in February. How are you finding it so far?

Those cutting mats sure do get a good work-out. Nice of Ian to test out the chairs for you. hehe He sure does love those slippers. Hopefully the cart wheel will hold this time around. The twinkling lights look good. I have a salt lamp which is always on and I love the soft glow it adds to a room.

Brad and I got Fitbit activity trackers - the Alta HR. They show the time but they aren't a typical watch-style. I hope you enjoy your one as much as we love ours.

I love how, with the smart phones, we can assign different sounds to different people for calls and texts too.

How sweet that Ian remembered and just had to run back to say buh-byes. OH yes, moments like that would leave you misty-eyed.

Love the Helen Keller quote!

Have a lovely weekend, my friend. xo

Harvest Moon by Hand said...

That is so thoughtful and loving for Ian to come back to say his goodbyes and I love yous. What a sweetheart!