brrrrrrrr

with all the chaos surrounding us - I've tried to focus on the things that make me smile.  quilts , lots of cool quilts are popping up on wastebook  -- 

me thinks the one above is cool -- if the blacks don't "bleed" onto the whites ... 

this one is huge -- I'm tempted to purchase the pattern -- it's an 11 month black a month gig at $50 a month -- highly unlikely that I'll join the party .. but it's a good launching pad for a project, someday 

scrappy 

I loaded up on homework before I came home yesterday -- it was kind of productive so far -- a couple of nasty projects, a bunch of 1099's ... and I left a few projects for morning -- I'll leave the house later than normal with the brutal cold.  It's not safe to wander around in the dark with -35 windchills . argh.  the whole freaking week.  

I did manage to strip beds, roomba the bedrooms, 4 loads of laundry, the dishwasher ran twice -- I did pop into the office for more projects and then went to the grocery store for the weekly haul of eats.  the store was pretty picked over and trashed.  nothing has seen a snowplow and even with the few flakes parking lots and city streets are messy .. 

supper was spaghetti pie -- lots of leftovers .. good eats for a couple of days .. I've got 4 more meals for the office freezer -- I'll be eating well for a couple of weeks.  

on the positive side NO FREEZING RAIN .. 

 

this week in snaps

blowing snow at the cabin .. the tree is strong and tall

Mrs H's favorite piece of office equipment pooped out .. even YouTube couldn't tell us how to fix it .. priced a replacement -- still musing it

Wednesday night I zoomed into the R9 gig .. and worked at the same time -- I don't think they knew I was in my jammies .... shhhhh

today, I "blew" snow with my leaf blower -- cool idea -- wear coat next time 

a container of happiness ... expensive but well worth it

sunset -- dead center is a fish house - must not have been biting -- gone later

life in my office -- it's colorful.  bubble wrap, ragg rugs, quilts and everything wedged into the cracks and crevices .. it works, somewhat .. I've since moved the plant (bird of paradise) to a warmer location -- the goofy thing is getting taller ( and getting more leaves )

 

yep

   more resolutions got smashed to pieces today ... 

   more fabric on the way ... argh.
   and then the clothes -- 
      nice sweatpants for the office -- need to be warm when it's cold.  argh
      and those damn fools at Old Navy -- maxi dresses and t shirt dresses - DIRT cheep
          not sure that I needed 4 -- 2 maxi -- to swing and a pair of sandals

   postage and printing bill arrived for the packet project yesterday -- more than the cost of my first car ...

   and yesterday we celebrated Jane -- it was a nice service -- I had a fun conversation with her brother Harold about the crafting habits -- he told me how much she enjoyed spending time with the Scrapbooking Divas .. .. made for some tears and smiles .. 

   I'm avoiding mentioning the mess of Minnesota -- it is hard to fathom -- evidently none of us remember the lessons from the sandbox.  play nice and be respectful.  it is not a hard concept ...

   

unsettled

unsettled -- chaos -- all of the issues happening locally, regionally, nationally are well, somedays just too much to comprehend -- I don't function in constant chaos and I seem to be bombarded with all the drama way to frequently.  

Drama isn't the correct description -- the lack of civility, the ability to accept / respect someone's opinion without so much .... anger, rage -- rudeness -- it's all so awful.

when the chaos gets so bad -- I find a sunset -- rare occurence around here lately -- must have been enough sun today to power the lights on the tree .. taking what I see -- from afar -- best I can do at the moment  

I think for my own mental health - avoiding social media is going to be the next move -- I literally sat and watched a 7 minute video of ICE at the local bp station -- it sucks you in and --- argh.  

Today was productive at the office -- more stuff got done -- all the little things add up to big things in the busy months.  The homework this evening has been good too -- 55 more 1099's are done :)  IKYK, will get up early and whip out a bunch more W2's .. we're perking along really well on all of it ...

It was also project day at home -- Mom now has her own amazon account and kindle unlimited subscription -- she's downloading books and reading away .. the cats got fed, laundry got washed and I managed 15 minutes on the treadmill .. all good in a crazy world.

 

I am a slob

last month picture of home office

disaster -- utter disaster

this is a spring picture from a couple of years ago -- it is an accurate representation of the mess of my shitshow office.  Today I attempted to tame the chaos.  the bookcases are better organized, binders ready to label.  the table is ready for tax season .. I got new monitor cables last week -- no more outages on the screens -- I scanned for 90 minutes I filled the shred can -- that was emptied yesterday .. 

I didn't find any treasures or money -- yet .. good grief it was a mess ... a spot of actual work may have got done -- Robyn got stuff done.  

argh argh argh

tomorrow will be good -- a date with the vac and dust rag will do wonders ... 

i really should be better at this ....

 

Janie M Mead

 

once there were 6 and now

we're down to 4 ....

just an old age moment ..

so much life and death since this picture was taken in 2011?

pictures from our first trip to the Pine City Scrapbooking Co retreat center 

aka: a remodeled hardware store without any windows

food at this bar was pretty tasty 

so many Jane stories -- endless Jane stories ...

the car accident -- I mean -- who runs over themself and can describe it in detail -- the move from the townhouse to the senior living complex -- 

that damn weight bench she was attached to ...

 40 years of payroll check stubs and performance reviews  -- 

hauling her home from Nicollet with an accumulation of stuff -- in Ruby -- "next time bring a bigger car, this one is nice -- but I think we needed a bigger car today -- how am I going to get out of this thing" .. mind you it was loaded -- trunk, backseat and stuff on her lap .. ( an unplanned afternoon of moving Jane) .. 

oh Jane 

we're going to miss you -- 

SQUIRREL

not so subtle message to self 

time will tell