Tips For Homemakers

We have been married 10 years now and we have done some silly things for our anniversaries. This one still makes me laugh.

I told my husband years ago that I don’t like cut flowers because I hate to see them die. So, if he wants to buy me flowers, he now knows to buy me a plant. He was okay with that and has not brought flowers home for me. So that eliminates flowers.

I am always struggling with my weight so I don’t want candy. So no candy for special occasions either.

So that leaves us with cards. But, I hate to waste five bucks on a card that just gets put away and takes up space. So, one year, we wrote a page of sweet words of our love for one another. Now, that is a special piece of paper I will always treasure.

But my favorite memory: We were at Wal-mart together and we realized we hadn’t gotten a card for each other yet. So, I suggested we pick out cards and let the other person read it and then put them back. It was hilarious. We spent about half an hour looking at cards and laughing at the silly ones. Finally, we found just the perfect one for each other. We read them, smiled, shared a quick kiss and put them back.

We still laugh about that every year on our anniversary.

Notice I never eliminated jewelry as an anniversary present. I am cheap but I am not stupid.

I heard on Good Morning America that you can search for lost money thru the Treasury Department of each state. So I typed in “lost money, NC” and sure enough I found some. It had to do with life insurance (Metropolitan).

On Saturday, I received a check for $612.35. Wow

It was kind of a hassle but it was worth it.

I printed out a form and followed the instructions. I sent it to NC with a copy of my drivers license, proof that I lived at the address listed and it had to be notarized. It took 2 months to get it back.

So, check every state you lived in and see if you have any money anywhere. Maybe you forgot to close out a checking account or something like that.

It is late and I should be sleeping but my mind is racing. Do you lie in bed and think about what all you need to do tomorrow? I do…and it drives me crazy. Or I lie there and realize I didn’t do something today that I meant to do. Like go shopping and buy dog food for my three 55 t0 60 pound dogs. I guess I will give them hot dogs and dog biscuits for breakfast. Good thing the store is only two miles away.

Talking about sleeping…..I am not a doctor and I am not prescribing any medicine but I have found if I take a motion sickness pill before I got to bed, it really relaxes me and I fall to sleep and wake up so refreshed. I should have done that about l0pm. lol I am a lot like my mom and I hate pills. Even if I have a headache, I try to put off taking anything. I say, it will go away once I fall asleep.

My thought that is really keeping me awake is news of the death of someone I knew from 6th grade thru high school. His name was Steve and he was my 6th grade boyfriend. He was very popular and remained so thru high school. He was so cute. He reminded me of Elvis Presley…with his dark hair and good looks. I didn’t really keep up with him but I saw him in l979, I believe. Then again in l989 maybe. He lived in my hometown where my parents still live.

My best friend, next to my mom, is Martie and she lives in Dover, NC. We have known each other since we were three years old and she told me, we met in a ditch. I don’t really remember that part. It doesn’t matter how many months or years it has been since we have seen or talked to each other, our conversation picks up like it was just yesterday. She is still the same wonderful person she was as a teenager girl. She never would speak badly about anyone. She is a good Christian woman. I always said she was my best friend…but, she didn’t say that about me but it didn’t matter. She had a few really close girlfriends and I think she would never chose one over another because she wouldn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.

So, I guess my thoughts for today are of my youth and friendships. Nothing earth-shattering. Just memories of people who were/are important to me.

Good night.

I am not saying my oldest sister has a temper BUT she got mad with her husband and took his wedding ring and hers and flushed them down the upstairs toilet. They were young and hadn’t been married long. James’ ring stayed at the bottom of the toilet and he retrieved it but Sandy’s was gone since it was lighter weight.

Years later, like 20 years or so, Sandy started thinking about that ring again. She had a couple grand daughters and was thinking she could give each one a ring, had she just not thrown her band away years ago down the toilet.

James had been doing some remodeling on their home by that time. Occasionally, Sandy would find coins in the toilet downstairs. She started thinking, wouldn’t it be great if my ring would reappear. Shortly after that, after much praying, she found her ring in the downstairs toilet (20 plus years later).

True Story….

My sister, who shall remain nameless, is really smart. She is two years younger than me. In high school, she was popular–class officer/cheerleader and so on. If she had been older than me, I would have probably been popular just because I was her sister.

As an adult, she has said some really funny things. She just doesn’t always think before she talks. She doesn’t have a dirty mind either and the rest of us do.

My sister was having a party and went grocery shopping for some snacks. She went up to a young teenage boy stocking the shelves and asked him where he kept his nuts. Once she realized what she said, she quickly walked away from him.

Another time, a soap opera was on. There was a character named Peter Jenkins or something like that. They kept replacing the character with a different actor every week. When she walked into the room and saw they had another guy playing Peter’s part, she said, “That’s the ugliest Peter I have ever seen”.

I have a couple more but I better not share them. I have already said enough. Sorry, Sis.

When Brian was about 4, he was outside playing across the street. We lived in a very quiet neighborhood on a cul-de-sac.

It was close to dinnertime so I called him. He didn’t come. I called him again. He didn’t come. I figured he must have went into Eric’s house but I called one more time.

He came into the house and said “Sorry, I took so long to come in. I didn’t hear you the first two times you called.”

Okay, I don’t remember the recipe for making homemade pretzels (I will have to find one to share) but I have photographs and pictures in my mind of the day we made pretzels. It was on our dairy farm in Missouri. Come to think of it. I don’t know why we didn’t do it more often. It was so much fun.

I made the dough, the kids rolled it out and made the dough into the shape of a pretzel. I put the pretzels in the oven and then when they were done, we sprinkled sea salt on them. I remember they were yummy.

My daughters were so cute. They had little scarves on their head like their mommy. I really have to dig out those pictures and share them with you.

I think it really helps to get your kids into the kitchen and instill some interest in baking/cooking. Brian seems to like to grill out a lot. He is 36 now.

Brian was my first child and unfortunately, he ate a lot of over-cooked meals as I learned to cook. I wasn’t really allowed in the kitchen much when I was a kid. Mom was so particular about sanitary/cleanliness kind of stuff. So, I didn’t know much about cooking when I got married.  When Brian got to be a teenager, I noticed he liked everything on the burnt side.

Speaking of food, if you want a great cake in Raleigh, NC…go to www.pipacakes.com.   You can order a cake and it will be beautiful and delicious.

When we lived in Missouri, it was about l5 miles to the nearest small town. So, there was no quick trips to Dunkin Donuts or Krispy Kreme when your sweet tooth called out to you.

I made donuts out of canned biscuits. I would poke a hole in the center and stretch the biscuit out. Heat one inch deep vegetable oil in a deep frying pan. The biscuits/donuts will swell. I had a gas stove so I just put it on a medium flame. Drop carefully into oil and then flip over once the first side browns.

Now, due to the whole hot oil thing, my kids got to decorate/coat the donuts and of course, eat them.

Place the donuts on a paper towel to drain. Let them cool for a couple minutes. Put powdered sugar in a bag…paper or plastic… and drop a couple donuts in and shake until donuts are covered with powdered sugar. Or cinnamon sugar. Or you can make a powdered sugar/butter glaze and spread it on. You can even add sprinkles. They stick better when the glaze is wet.

Speaking of donuts…I have to tell this story about my grand daughter, Madison. My son, Brian and his wife, Jen were in the van grabbing a quick donut before heading to my parents home for a visit. Maddy (3years old) dropped her donut and it hit the floor of the van but my son quickly picked it up, blew it off and wiped it off with a napkin just to make sure it was clean. He handed it to Maddy and said, its okay, you can eat it. Maddy, knowing she had always been told not to eat food that touches the floor, looked at her Dad and said “If you say so.”

Have you ever paid attention to how grouchy people get when there is a full moon? Well, it is true. My sister worked in an emergency room at a hospital and she told me there were always more stabbings and shootings on a full moon.

I work part-time for an older man — cleaning his house, running his errands, and helping him clean and repair his rental properties. He is a very active senior citizen. He bowls, golfs twice a week, and still shots pistols in matches. His house if full of trophies from his Army career as a marksman/sharpshooter or whatever. All I know is, he has at least l00 trophies, all of which I have to dust.

It was a full moon and my boss was definitely in a grouchy mood. Now, I can only say that because he is 75 and does not have a computer so he will never read what I am about to write. lol

He is a widower and always wants some company for lunch. When I go to his house to work, I always stop whatever I am doing to go to lunch with him. It has become a routine. I know that a clean house is secondary to his need for companionship while he eats.

Every time we eat at this particular restaurant, he wants me to park on the left side of the building. I always do but occasionally there are no parking spaces and we end up parking in the tire store parking lot next door. So today, it was drizzling rain and I could see there were no parks on the left side so as I pulled in, I mentioned I don’t see any parks over there so I will just park right here (as I pulled in on the right side). He grumbled that I could have always parked over in the tire store parking lot. Now, does that make sense to you? I have to go back out on the busy boulevard to go into another parking lot which is further to walk plus, remember it is now drizzling rain.

So, I ignored him and got out of the car. I will never do that again. During our meal, I could tell there was something bothering him. About two hours later, at his house while I am continuing to gather his trash and newspapers to take to the dump (I did say I live in the country, right?), he asked me if I believed in traditions. He told me it is his tradition to park on the left side. Well, I won’t tell you what all I said to that because it is a full moon and my husband says I am definitely a different person when there is a full moon. Actually, I was nice…but, I did let him know I didn’t want to walk in the rain (which he told me there was an umbrella in the car). I knew I couldn’t win.

My husband is so sweet, one night I was obviously being grouchy because my husband opened the back door and looked up in the sky. I asked what he was doing and he said he was checking to see if there was a full moon. His point was taken and I laughed and apologized for being ill with him.

I seldom get sick but the last few days…yuk. This morning I woke up and no nausea, no pain and wow, I think I am well.

You know the saying, “you don’t know what you have till you lose it.” That is appropriate for good health, too.

I would consider myself very healthy…for my age. The only medication I take is a prevacid and I don’t really take that unless I end up snacking before bedtime. So, it is easy to just take it for granted that I can get up and work all day. I expect my body to allow me to do all the things I plan to do for the day. Whether it is mowing the lawn, weedeating and pulling weeds from my flowerbeds, painting the outside of a house, putting up fence with my husband, or taking a l0 hour trip….I expect to do it and not have any pain afterwards. Well, I do occasionally have a few aches and pains which reminds me that I am not 20 anymore. But, I am a strong person so I keep going.

The last couple days, I stayed inside my home and it drove me crazy. I wanted to get outside and work. This morning, I woke up realizing that I am back to normal and thankful for my good health. If I hadn’t gotten sick, I wouldn’t realize how great it is to feel “normal”.