Happy Hump Day!

Back in the days when I worked full time in an office, Wednesday was the day when we all celebrated making it to the hump. It was all downhill from there, slidin' into Friday and the weekend. It's been awhile since I pulled on a pair of pantyhose, climbed in the car, drove to work to sit at a desk and type and file and answer phones all day, but Wednesday still feels like Hump Day to me.

So I'm taking a coffee break, in yoga pants.

So - new president. Regardless of who anybody voted for, you have to be in awe of the power of the office, and stand up a little bit straighter when you see the swearing in, Abraham Lincoln's Bible, the pomp and circumstance. It made me proud to be an American, and I'm committed to praying for this new President. He's going to need it with all our country is facing.

But here's a photo of my personal hero.

When his mother was barely hanging on to living in the house she'd called home for over 30 years, neighbors would show up to clean the walks or pick up groceries, or whatever she needed, because her two sons lived a distance away. This past weekend DH looked out and saw our almost 80 year old neighbor shoveling her driveway, in spite of two hip replacement surgeries. He was across the street in under five minutes, didn't say a word to her, just went to work. He told me he's still grateful for those who helped his mother.

Here's a tip for any mommas out there who might be pulling their hair out, just a bit, with the cold and snow this time of year. Two days ago Leslie phoned to give me the good news that she'd spent the night on her bathroom floor, and how did I feel about spending the day with a certain two year old. It was too cold to be outdoors. So after an outing to McDonalds, I took him to our church and we spent the afternoon in one of the pre-school age classrooms. We enjoyed indoor playground equipment, puzzles, the fire truck with the extension ladder, the kitchen, the dollhouse, and even borrowed a few snacks from the snack bin, and finally ran back and forth across the gym floor to burn a bit of cooped up steam. I delivered him home ready for his nap, and thought how helpful it would have been, when our kids were little, to run over to our church on those nasty days. It never occurred to me. How about you?

What is it about January and winter and being cooped up? I'm in a crazy mood to cook, soups and gumbos and stews, and cookies and bread. Maybe I've been watching those squirrels too long. Sarah told me awhile back about a cookbook, Martha Stewart Cookies, and I grabbed it from our public library. It's organized by category - airy and light, chewy, etc. I'll be wearing out the chewy section. Today I'm making a cookie that has applesauce in the batter and is drizzled with white frosting. They'll be perfect with afternoon tea, or tucked into DH's lunchbox.

Well, after a very long hiatus, it's back to painting - with a vengeance. We're planning to list the house around April 15, and I've still got three bedrooms and a bathroom to go. I sure did enjoy the two months away from it, but the reality is - there are no elves so I'm back to it. We're headed back to our lakehouse in early March, and I'd L.O.V.E. to be done with all the painting at this house, before we go.

And finally - our TV purchase that began back in July of 2008 is finally complete. We had VCR issues. The combo VCR/DVD we bought did not work. We put back the old DVD but had to watch Elf without red, which was a bit weird. We figured out and fixed that but had no VCR for the 99,000 movies we all have, so I gave up and gave away, to Goodwill, our old VCR player. After replacing a cable, then buying a new DVD player to play the one DVD I'd purchased on Ebay, I learned to sell on Ebay and the DVD is gone, and I got the thought that maybe, just maybe the VCR I'd given away would work.

So I went to Goodwill. They didn't have our VCR anymore.

There's DH figuring out cables and plugs and such stuff. Manly work at our house.

Here's our newly purchased for $6.50 VCR. It works. Perfectly.

As likely did the one I gave them. And we now have this:

Four remotes. Clearly labeled, but I think I understand how to run everything, and can now enjoy the Yoga tape my mom sent me for Christmas. Which I'm going to need to be doing after enjoying the Martha Stewart Cookie cookbook.

Well, that's it for me - better get back to work. There's cooking and cleaning and painting and sorting, you know, all the things a stay at home, yoga pants wearing secretary spends her day doing. BTW, does anyone else remember keeping a bottle of clear nail polish in their desk drawer, to dab on a run in your pantyhose, or is it just me?