Fashion

[Bird mama]

Good Sunday Morning to You,

The sky is grey and the temps are just above freezing in my part of the world.  I don't have too much on my agenda today - grocery shopping and sweep up the seed remnants off of the patio.

My basement is not as large as a basement would be in a ranch style house.  That said, the previous owner partitioned off the basement (with walls and doors) into a main room, laundry room and furnace room.

I was in the furnace room last night trying to determine where the banging noise was coming from for the past 2 months, lol.

It's not my furnace or blower fan.  It's a section of duct work that must be expanding and contracting.  The basement is sort of finished as the main room used to be an additional bedroom, so there are heater vents along the duct work.  I don't know if I'm explaining this clearly but the bottom line is there is really no reason to be cold, even in the basement.  I have all the vents closed off with magnetic vent covers over them because I'd rather the heat go up, where me and the birds are.

In the furnace room, I think some of the rattle and roar is coming from one of the heater vents and I am about to take a screwdriver down there to see what the heck has come loose.

I digress, lol.  While I was in the furnace room, I found three boxes of stuff.  One is camera equipment - for a camera that no longer exists in the house.  My DH was a shutterbug in his younger days and had the whole 9 yards from lighting to film developing equipment.  One box has old computer parts.  One box has cables and audio visusal components.

Because it's organized so well, I'd forgotten they were there.  I might go through those today and get them ready for garbage pick up this Tuesday.

I've so enjoyed the past two holiday weeks because I've had significant amounts of time at home with my birds. 

Part of me feels just a bit melancholy about going back to work.  Then again, today is the anniversary of my husband's passing so that could also be a factor.

On a funny note, I received a letter from Quicken yesterday.  It was informational in nature and stated that one of the benefits of an FHA load is that I can pay off my entire loan balance early without penalty.  They went on to say that many of their clients, like me, take advantage of this to avoid interest, lol.  They provided the total payoff amount and contact information in the event I want to knock it all out now.

While I'm not quite there yet, it does give me something to work towards :-)

[KonaKat]

Bernie--Thank you for starting the thread. You definitely have a knack for resolving home problems. The pay off is motivation to coninue your efforts on getting the mortgage paid off sooner than the bank would like for you to do so. Paying it off earlier just results in them losing interest money.

A friend and I went to the city yesterday. For the fun of it, I decided to check out some cars at my dealership as I might be in the market for one in the coming year.  They had one that was great. It was one year old and had been driven a short time by a GM manager. The price was definitely right for a car which had what I wanted. I told myself to hold off and wait. I just hope when I decide to buy that there will be a similar car available.

Right now, I am trying to get to the minamalist stage. I am applying "Have you used this in the past year?" as well as "Do you love the item?"  Lack of warm feelings plus lack of use is a definite sign it is leaving the house. I just need to follow through. I am one of those who when I put something away the "out of sight, out of mind" comes into play and I forget I have it. Duh!!

[spix]

Good Morning, same weather here @Bird mama, snow due later today, so I think I'll also get out soon, need to get more bargains to clutter up my freezer lol

Hope you find out what's causing the noise in your basement, mine is also small (georgian style house) but no door on the kitchen staircase going down so I keep the vents open, good luck but I know you'll figure it out.

Glad the Holidays are behind us now, memories for me are not good, but we have to play the hand we're dealt.

Hope all have a good day.

[KonaKat]

Spix--If snow is in the forecast, perhaps stocking up the freezer might be a good idea. I tend to keep excess things on hand during Winter because of the difficulty of getting out at times. So far, the Winter has been great. I can handle the cold as long as the white stuff stays away. You are so right; we have to deal with what is dealt us. The past is the past; we can't change it.

I'm going through the lower cabinets near the floor level and making sure the frequently used items are placed on a higher shelf.  I am having problems getting up from the floor when sitting on it to do things. This stems from a back injury a few years ago.

[Bird mama]

Well, that's over, lol.  As soon as I posted I put my coat, hat and gloves on and went to Meijer's.  Wow did I time it well, I think I missed the Church crowd.  Once I returned home, I put the milk and yogurt in the fridge and said, Bernie, you are already cold and have your coat and hat on - sweep the patio. 

Jean, isn't that the way, even with a car?  You see something you like and the timing is off, just a little :-)

Spix, navigating the holiday season can be like dodging land mines.  Glad you made it through this one and are ready for a new year.  For me, time has helped to some degree.  Some of the feelings never go away though.

[PAlady]

Good afternoon ladies, hope all is well.

Bernie - Thank you for starting us today, hope you find the noise in the basement.  Good job on paying down your morgage, I know you will meet your goal on it.  I am sure the birds will miss you also.

Jean - Glad you had a good day in the city, hope the car is still there when you go looking again.  I probably will need a new suv this year or next.  Well at least DH keeps telling me that, I love my buzz buggy and don't want to let it go.  You know it is a classic vehicle - It has a cassette player in it.

Spix - Have fun restocking the freezer. 

Not much going on here today, we are a little above freezing and it is spitting snow out, but I guess I can't complain we don't have any snow yet.  I can take this weather until spring. 

Well guess I need to clean a little here (floor needs swept something terrible), hope everyone has a great day. 

[Snicks1]

Good morning ladies.

Thanks @Bird mama, for starting the thread. You are really ambitious today. Hope you find what is making the noise in your basement. ((Hugs)) to you on this sad anniversary date. You are a smart and determined lady and I know if at all possible, you will meet your goal re: your mortgage.

@KonaKat, glad that you had fun on your trip to the city yesterday. Checking out 'new' cars is fun, I can sometimes almost be talked into buying, then my better half in my brain kicks in and I don't fall for the sales pitch. I am thinking I will need to get another vehicle within another year of so, depending how much I drive my current one. I want an SUV again. I had one that I traded off due to it being such a gas hog, but I was driving quite a distance every to work and back every day at that time. I could get to the minimalist stage, but hubby is a pack rat, whenever I clear out a space, he fills it back in, so... I also have trouble getting up once I am on the floor, but so far I can still manage it, and I will be needing to spend some time soon on my lower cabinets as well.

@spix, we are having very cold weather right now, but it is sunny so I will deal with that, I so dislike snow and ice. ((hugs)) to you also for your sad memories at this time of year.

@PAlady, my floors are needing a good sweeping/mopping also. My dog and I took a long walk around the yard and I got too close to where they have dug up for the new fire hydrant and water lines, got into some mud and didn't realize it until I had it all over the kitchen floor, lol. That is on my list of to do things for today.

We had fun at the casino yesterday, came out ahead so that is a good day in a casino. We used to go often, now it's not often at all, but we don't really do much else for entertainment, so it is ok. We both know when to stop. We had dinner on the way home, and were home by 7pm, such partiers as we are, rofl. I was worn out, you would have thought we'd been gone all day and night, lol. I still could not sleep though, went to bed about 9pm, was awake at 12:30am and finally got up at a little past 1am. Am trying to keep moving so I won't be tempted to take a nap. Made us a late breakfast that was yummy, checked out cabinets and fridge to see what I need from the store and will head there shortly, while hubby is home to carry stuff in for me. I do enough of carrying in upstairs that if he is here I take full advantage of it, lol. Waves......

[KonaKat]

Snicks--I love my current car. I have had it ten years I don't drive as much as I used to so I only have 103,000 miles on it.. All I have had to do was routine maintenance, new tires and a battery. No "end of year" sales is enough to tempt me to part with it right now. I do, however, see sometime in the future getting a another one as I want to make sure I have a quality car because of where I routinely drive. Trust me, it is miles of nothing and dead zones. It isn't a place you want to be caught wth a car breakdown.

Susan--I'm sure that the "right" car will be there when the time comes. Like you, I love my current one and want to hang on to it. When you get done with the floors, you can come and do mine.

I just turned on the Q; I don't need any Cook's Essentials, especially a set of cookware. I'll just buy the pieces that I use when needed without having excess items not used. Trust me, I am not a cook. I do bare essentials.

[Rock_chick]

Good morning friends! It's a lazy day here. I been to church in a long time. Was going to start going Saturdays but have not. It was cold when i got up but is pretty warm now. Going to wear leggings ::gasp:: and boots fit a bread foray out into the world.

I am in love with a Jeep Wrangler like DDs. Luckily out is so specific, and the Wrangler crowd so specific, that there are only a few places that have them. I will likely never drive by and see something acceptable. This is good as I have to wait 2 more years.

I do love my car and it's been very good to us. It has 180,000 miles and I expect it to keep on ticking for quite a while.

[Rock_chick]

Bernie please be kind to yourself today, do something nice for our friend! I am lighting my candle for you and saying a prayer and a hug.