Hobbit-ish Potpurri: Questions, Questions, Questions

Hey Humble Readers...
 
How are you all today?  Is the sun shining where you are?  It's bright and sunny here in the Shire today, and the good weather is supposed to stick around for a few days.  Hooray! 
 
*****
So, you remember the post I wrote recently about my final wishes?  Well, my lovely friend Good Timing sent me a link to this...

 
It's a biodegradable urn that you can use to plant a tree!  How cool is that???  Your remains help a tree grow.  I absolutely love it.  (I'm weird, I know.)  The ultimate in recycling.  Would you consider using something like this?
 
*****
I've mentioned here before that I am a fan and regular follower of the website "My OB Said What?"  For those of you who aren't familiar, it's a site dedicated to the ridiculous, funny, shocking, offensive, nonsensical things that are said by medical personnel to female patients, particularly surrounding trying to conceive, pregnancy, labour & delivery, and breastfeeding.  This site has encouraged and emboldened me to speak up for myself, to ask questions, and to seek out clarity when dealing with the medical establishment.  I will admit that sometimes the comments on MOSW can get a little polarized, particularly around hot-button issues like vaccinations and breastfeeding, but it is always eye opening and entertaining. 
 
They are currently seeking out new submissions for their site.  If you have a story about an insane or inane comment that a medical professional has made to you, please consider sharing with them.  They also accept submissions for Thoughtful Thursdays, one day each week dedicated to the great, wonderful, encouraging and understanding comments that doctors, nurses, and midwives give to their patients. 

Here's one of my submissions that they published just the other day.

*****
I'm working out my spring cleaning schedule that officially kicks in tomorrow.  My goal is to have it all done by Easter, tackling one or two things a day.  Tomorrow is the outsides and tops of my kitchen cabinets.  If you had one tip or trick for spring cleaning to share, what would it be?

*****
Our whole family is going for optometrist appointments this weekend.  My Beloved hasn't been since quite a while before I met him.  The glasses he wears now were originally prescribed to wear for driving and reading, but he's worn them pretty much all the time since we were married.  It's been a few years for me, seeing as most eye doctors won't treat you while you're pregnant (due to the changes in ligaments and the temporary effects of things like pregnancy induced hypertension and gestational diabetes).  The wee-lings are also getting their first eye exams.  Have any of you ever taken an infant or a toddler for an eye exam?  What should I expect?

*****
And since I've asked you all a ton of questions, what questions do you have for me?  Ask away, and I will answer in an upcoming post!

Join Me In A Happy Dance!

Hey Humble Readers!

I am such a happy happy hobbit today!

We have been living in the hobbit hole for almost five years.  That is almost longer than anywhere else I've lived in my lifetime.  When we bought this place it was a huge step up from our dumpy one bedroom apartment with carpet in the kitchen (for which they were charging us more than $900 a month), but we didn't have any savings.  So the only mortgage we qualified for was a 40 year, zero down mortgage (an option the government has now vetoed). 

That's right, a 40 year mortgage for a two bedroom condo.  Yikes!  But we wanted to start building equity and the payments were less than what we were paying for rent, so we went for it. 

Fast forward almost five years and our mortgage was up for early renewal.  I knew that the call would be coming from the bank, and given what our financial picture has looked like for the last couple of years, I was fairly concerned about what kind of interest rate we could get.  

I fully and honestly confess that I know very little about how mortgages work, other than you borrow a lot of money from a bank and they charge you a lot of interest, and then you pay them back for years and years and years.  I have had images of us being in our late 70s and early 80s still living in this condo. 

So the call came from the bank just before we left for K-town.  The mortgage was up for early renewal, and there were some good rates available, but they were only available until the end of February.  I scheduled an appointment for today, and my Beloved and I made our way down the hill to see our mortgage specialist.

I was worried.  I was actually really worried. 

It turns out that I had absolutely nothing to worry about.  At all.

Apparently, we made a great choice five years ago when we chose to pay our mortgage weekly.  That has given us a huge leg up.  Simply by paying more often we were already down below 30 years on our mortgage.  I was happy to learn that. 

And then the mortgage lady told us that she could cut our interest in half.  While that sounded good to me, I didn't grasp the big picture.  Until she showed us our payment schedule on her computer screen.

We have gone from a 5.39% interest rate to a 2.69% interest rate.  And by keeping our payments at the same amount each week we have knocked a whole lot of time off our mortgage.  As of today, it would only take us 17 years to pay off our mortgage. 

17 years!!!  Do you know what that means?

It means we are no longer upside down in our mortgage!  We are paying more toward the principle than to interest.  We are moving forward, not backward.  We are gaining ground. 

We are locked in for two years, which fits our current plan almost perfectly.  We are going to live as cheaply as we possibly can for the next year and a half or so, and pay down as much of our debt as possible.  With the added income from my Beloved's new job, we will hopefully knock out two thirds or more of it, if we can. 

And then, in two years, WE BUY A BIGGER HOBBIT HOLE!  Something with 3+ bedrooms, 2+ baths, a finished basement and close to a park.  Preferably a townhouse or a duplex (my dream house is currently available in our price range... hopefully something similar will be available two years from now). 

I have a perma-grin on my face.  Who will dance with me? 

(As an added bonus, when I stepped on the scale this morning I was thrilled to learn that I am now 26.5lb down!  Only 8.5lb to go for my first target!)

Sunday Night Chit Chat: Recovery Mode

Hey Humble Readers...

We made it safely home last night around 7pm, after a little over 12 hours of driving. Thankfully, Ginny only got carsick once, and that was just about an hour into the trip.  My mom followed us in her car, and went on to the big city to the north of us to spend a few days with my sister, before heading to Winter-peg to visit some more family.  She just wasn't quite ready to face not having GG to look after on a daily basis, so traveling will keep her busy.  The highlight of the journey was when we had stopped at the mid point of the trip to gas up and have lunch, and my mom locked her keys in her car at the gas pump.  Oy!

Today has been all about recovering from our trip.  Laundry, grocery shopping, and washing all the mud off the car (the pass was really slushy and mucky).  The wee-lings, who had been struggling with sleep while we were at Mom's, slept for more than 12 hours last night!  It was after eight o'clock this morning before we heard a peep from them.  Miraculous!

Ginny with her cousins Felix & Oscar

Onto the Chit-Chat...

Here's what I'm

Reading - I just started "The Book Thief".  It's a different sort of book than what I usually read, but I'm enjoying it immensely.

Watching - Probably just going to clear up some room on the dvr.  I love the Oscars, but this year I didn't get to see the majority of the movies, and I'm not able to do my usual Oscar night dinner of appies and snacks, so I'm just not feeling it.

Listening to - The wee-lings go crazy for the dogs in 101 Dalmations.

Cooking/Baking - Because it's been such a busy day, I didn't want anything too involved, so I'm making my Lazy Sausage Casserole.  It's so yummy, with lots of veggies.  Here's the recipe if you're interested.

Happy I accomplished this week - I managed to speak at GG's memorial, which I wasn't sure I'd be able to do.  I cooked almost every meal while we were in K-town (saving my mom the stress of cooking for a horde).  And I washed the car today. 

Looking forward to next week - Actually, I'm more hoping than looking forward to something... our mortgage is up for renewal, and I'm hoping that we'll be able to get a better interest rate (appointment on Tuesday).  Other than that, I'm just planning on getting into a normal routine again, and starting my spring cleaning.

Thankful for this week - Safe travels, children who travel moderately well (carsickness notwithstanding), and for the privilege of having known my Grandma. 

**Bonus Question** What item is currently at the *TOP* of your wish list right now?  Well, the big ticket item would be a bedroom set for my Beloved and I (we have no head board, and my Beloved uses a laundry basket for a dresser).  I really love the Hemnes set from Ikea, but the closest Ikea is a fair jaunt away, and the pieces wouldn't fit in Tilly the Toyota anyway.  The smaller ticket item, and far more attainable, is a decent shoe rack.  I'm so sick of all our shoes being all over the floor in our entryway. 

*****
This was posted as a part of Carla's Sunday Night Chit Chat.  Pop over and check out what others are chatting about tonight! 

Hobbit-ish Thoughts on Death

Hey Humble Readers...

I know, I know.  That title doesn't really inspire happy thoughts, does it?  But since GG (my grandma) passed earlier this month, there have been a lot of conversations in my immediate connection about death, and more specifically on final wishes. 

So, here are my thoughts...

When I go, I want to be cremated.  I think caskets are just odd.  Why would I want to look at someone's body when they've died?  The only way I can picture my great-grandparents is how they looked in their coffins.  (And don't even get me started on people who take pictures of the dearly departed!)  And of course, the cost is obscene. 

I don't want a fancy urn, put me in a coffee can.  I don't want to be on the mantle or in a columbarium somewhere.  I don't want a headstone, or any other sort of place that my family will feel guilty for not visiting.  I want to be dumped somewhere meaningful to my Beloved or the wee-lings, or heck, dump me on a rose bush somewhere.  I would rather my loved ones remember me as I was in life, not as my remains will be in death.  And because of my beliefs, my remains will be just that... all that remains.  So what happens to them after the fact really doesn't matter to me. 

At my memorial service, just because I'm contrary, I want to have all the hymns and worship songs that I can't stand, and I want it noted in the bulletin that I really can't stand them.  Earth and All Stars, Shine Jesus Shine, and Sent Forth By God's Blessing.  All are songs that have either been sung all too often in my worship-life or I just really don't like the lyrics. 

Memorial services and funerals aren't for the dead, but for the living.  I want there to be a sense of fun, possibly even goofiness apparent in my service.  I want it to be a celebration rather than a mournful solemn occasion. 

Have you ever given any thought to what you want for your 'final wishes'?

*****
I'm a tad bit behind on my ICLW (and regular) blog reading and commenting.  I will get caught up when we are back home again in a couple of days.  I will be checking in with all of you soon!

February ICLW: Quick Update & Proof that I Am A Crotchety Old Woman

Hey Humble Readers...

I hope that your week has been going well.  Things here in K-town are going ok.  The service was small, but nice.  After the internment, many of the people who attended the funeral came back to my mom's house just to chat and hang out.  Most of the out-of-town guests left over the course of the day yesterday, and now it's just me, my Beloved and the Wee-lings remaining.  We'll be heading home to the Shire on Saturday... and praying that Ginny doesn't have a repeat of the car-sickness that she had on the way out here (thank you all for your input on that, btw). 

So, now that's out of the way... Welcome visitors!  I'm an IF/RPL survivor, a mom of two hard-won wee-lings (aged 9 months and 27 months) and the wife of an ent.  We live in a small city (the Shire), on the Canadian prairies, just east of the Rocky Mountains.  I'm a pinterest addict, wanna-be novelist, good cook, mediocre baker, deluded crafter, and tv junkie.  I'm a stay at home mom, who loves watching her little ones learn and grow, and is very quickly getting sick of El.mo and singing the Itsy-bitsy Spider. 

A few times in the past, I have done an ABCs of Me as my ICLW intro, and I think I'm going to do that again.  But this time there's a theme.  Things that bug me... (I'm generally a pretty happy person, just been a little on edge lately).  Here are the ABCs of my pet peeves.

A - Asters.  Flowers are supposed to be pretty.  Asters just aren't.

B - Birds.  They're creepy.  They're dirty.  They're icky. 

C - Chapped Lips.  I am a lip balm addict.

D - Downton Abbey.  Not the entire show, just how they ended the third season.  That REALLY REALLY REALLY PISSED ME OFF!

E - Edemame.  I just don't get it. 

F - Fat-phobics.  Especially doctors who are fat-phobic.  To paraphrase J.K. Rowling... 'There are so many worse things a person could be than fat.'

G - Grocery shopping.  It gets me out of the house, but that's about the best I can say for it.  It's expensive and time consuming.  And really, for what groceries cost, there should be someone who comes home with you and puts them away for you.

H - Hate disguised as humour.  Or disguised as patriotism.  Or as faith.

I - Infertility.  In all it's forms.  The way it tears a person down, the toll it takes on a marriage, and the lasting scars that seem to be slow in fading into memory.

J - Judgemental people.  Especially when I'm the one being judgemental.  It makes me less of a person, and no fun to be around.

K - Ketchup.  It's okay in recipes, but I can't stomach it on fries or eggs or kraft dinner (that would be mac & cheese for my American friends). I also can't stand Kraft dinner, but that's another story.

L- Laundry.  It NEVER ends!

M - Misophonia.  This is an actual disorder that is defined by the fact that sufferers have an extreme dislike to certain sounds, even to the point of extreme physical and emotional responses.  For me, it's related to people's mouths (chewing, swallowing, lip smacking, etc) and repetative sounds (like the sound of someone typing). I wish I could tune the sounds out like normal people do.

N - Nylons.  Tights and pantyhose also fall into this category.  A man must have designed them. 

O - Olives.  Yuck.

P - Panties.  Just the word, not the article of clothing.  Please, for the love of pete, just call them underwear.

Q - Queues.  (Yes, it's a stretch).  I don't have a lot of patience for waiting in lines.  And I always, inevitably choose the wrong line... you know, the one that moves at a snail's pace.

R - 'Reality' TV.  Why exactly is Kim Kar.dash.ian a celebrity?  What has she, and her ilk, done that I should spend my time following their every move?

S - Scary movies.  I used to love them.  Now I can't even watch the trailers for them. 

T - Transportation as sport.  Namely NASCAR.  I don't understand how watching cars drive around a track is sporting or entertaining.  But that's just me.

U - Underwear shopping.  No matter how much I psych myself up for it, it's never enjoyable.

V - Varicose Veins.  Just another sign I'm too fat and getting old.

W - Winter.  We've had snow on the ground since Halloween.  I'm done with this season.

X - Xcessively (another stretch) high gas prices.  We are spoiled in the Shire because our prices are some of the lowest in the country, but they're still ridiculous.  And now here in K-town, the prices are astronomical.

Y - Yapping dogs.  My mom's little shi'tzus are driving me nuts!

Z - Canadians who pronounce this letter as "zee".  It's "zed" dang it.

Let me know what some of your pet peeves are.

Her Mother's Daughter

Hey Humble Readers,

We arrived in K-town safely, even though the snowy roads were genuinely un-fun. We left at 4:30 in the morning, and thankfully the wee-lings slept for the first few hours. 

However, we discovered that my wee sweet girl has inherited an unfortunate trait of mine. 

Ginny gets car-sick. 

Ginny got car-sick.

FIVE TIMES. 

I'm totally bummed for the poor girl.  We attempted to employ the wonder drug grav.ol to no avail.  She just kept on puking.  We are going to have to look into ginger and other alternatives.  Any input?

As soon as she was out of the car, bathed, and the center of Mama's attention, she was feeling much better.  Are we surprised?

Hobbit-ish Potpurri: Winter Doldrums

Happy Valentine's Day Humble Readers...

Well, it's happened again.  Nary a word from me since Sunday night... what's going on here?  I have a dozen blog posts rattling around in my head, but they just don't seem to want to exit through the ends of my fingers. 

*****
The snow in the Shire is slowly melting.  We've had snow on the ground since before Halloween, so I'm not at all sad to see it go.  That's not to say that the weather has been nice, far from it.  Yes we've had sunny skies, but we have constantly been rocked by wind all week.  I love the effects of a Chinook wind, but I'm not a fan of the wind itself. 

*****
I broke down and watched the season finale of Downton Abbey the other day.  I'm not going to give anything away, I promise, but I do have to say I'm pissed.  Seriously, the whole evening after I watched it I was MAD.  It's going to be a long wait until next January for season 4.

*****
Weight-loss update: I'm plateaued again.  I'm down 24.5 pounds, which is awesome.  But I'm stuck again.  I'm a little bit concerned because I inevitably gain weight when we go to K-town.  Mostly because of all the wine we consume when my mom, sister and I are together.

*****
I'm happy with how my super-fake King Cakes turned out for Mardi Gras.  I'm not much of a baker, so the real deal was rather out of reach for me to attempt, but I wanted to have a special "zert" as Ginny called it.  So, this is what I made...

Pretty simple really.  Crescent rolls (in a tube), filled with a bit of nu.tella, then topped with a simple glaze and sprinkles in the colors of Mardi Gras... purple, gold, and green. 

*****
So, it's Valentine's Day.  A pretty important day in the hobbit hole.  Today is the 7th anniversary of when my Beloved and I were matched on eHarm.ony.  I always try to do something special for dinner, and when it's in the budget we do try to go out at some point around V-day.  This year's special dinner is New York strip steaks, double-stuffed twice-baked taters, oven roasted asparagus, sautéed mushrooms and onions, and cheesecake for dessert.  Things are well in process at this point, and I'm planning on leaving some time between when Ginny gets up from her nap and when my Beloved comes home to have Ginny make a card for her daddy. 

*****
I'm hoping to squeeze some time in tomorrow for Pippin's 9 month post.  I'm already a few days late, and I want to get it out there.  How is it that he's been on the outside for as long as he was on the inside already???  When Ginny was this age, Pippin was conceived.  Wow.

Sunday Night Chit Chat

Hey Humble Readers...

Thank you all so much for your kind words on my last post.  It still hasn't completely sunk in that GG is gone. 

We are still in the Shire.  GG's memorial service isn't until the 19th (my sister and I don't understand why it's so far off) so we won't be leaving until next Saturday morning.  My aunt is in K-town with my Mom, and most of the arrangements have been made.  Not that Auntie S is going to be a whole lot of help to mom, as she's a long-time alcoholic.  It just feels so strange to not be on the way out there already, especially after sitting on pins and needles all week wondering and waiting. 

Other than GG, I have been reminiscing a lot about our trip to NYC a few years ago.  I love looking at the pictures of my Beloved and I in Central Park, and all the amazing things we got to do and see, and the great food we got to eat.  I hope that someday we are able to take the wee-lings there. 

Pizza Vongole at Otto (one of Mario Batali's restaurants)
I have been daydreaming about this pizza recently. 
I can't believe it's been more than 3 years since we were in NYC

Onto tonight's chit chat...

Reading - "A Light In The Window" by Jan Karon... the second in the Mitford series.  I love this series, but I have to say that this book is my least favourite (kind of like Chamber of Secrets is my least favourite Harry Potter), but I will slog through it for the sake of the series.  Next up is "The Book Thief".  It's one I've wanted to read for ages but just never got around to picking up.  I can really feel my reading mojo kicking back in.  When I was at the grocery store, I spent a ridiculous amount of time looking at their book displays... and I found a ton of titles that I want to check out. 












Watching -  Downton, of course.  I'm looking forward to the return of Mr. Bates.  I confess that I will likely watch the remaining episodes in the next few days, as we will be in K-town next week when the season finale airs. 

Listening to - Nothing at the moment.  It is blissfully silent in the hobbit hole right now, as everyone else is napping.  This never ever happens. 

Baking/Cooking - Tonight's dinner menu is Dijon & Brown Sugar Pork Loin, and the usual Sunday dinner stuff... mashed taters, mixed vegetables, and yorkies.  This is a fun cooking week for me... Jambalaya and a fun variation on King cake for Mardi Gras, Tortellini Marinara with Caesar Salad and Garlic bread for Ash Wednesday, and a quasi-romantic dinner for us on Valentine's Day (our match-iversary... the day we were matched on eHarmon.y seven years ago).

Happy you accomplished this week -  Made another big batch of apple sauce for Pippin.  We've got enough now to get us to the end of April I think.

Looking forward to next week - Ginny has her first ever playdate on Tuesday.  She's played with other children before, but it's been at church or with her cousins.  I'm excited for her to hang out with her little friend J, and for me to get to hang out with J's mom. 

Thankful for today - That GG is at peace. 

Bonus question: Are you musically gifted/talented? Do you play any instruments? Sing? - LOL!  The only thing I can play is the radio and I couldn't carry a tune if it had two handles.  I always wanted to learn to play the violin, so that I could actually hear my heirloom violin, but hopefully Ginny will be musically inclined as the violin will go to her next.

*****
This was posted as a part of Carla's Sunday Night Chit Chat.  Click over and check out what others are chatting about tonight.

GG

Good Morning Humble Readers...

Though she be little, she is fierce.

GG passed away last night at 11:30pm. 

GG & Pippin last July
November 24, 1925 - February 8, 2013

She is survived by her two daughters, six grandchildren, and ten great-grandchildren.  The oldest of 21 siblings (yes, all from the same parents), Grandma grew up on a Manitoba farm during the Great Depression.  She learned early to stick up for herself, and to speak her mind.  She was certainly not shy about giving you her opinion.  The stories she could tell about growing up in such a large family would make your hair curl and make you laugh until you cried.  She was a teeny little woman, just barely reaching 5 feet tall, at her tallest.  She was a klutz, always falling or tripping (usually because she couldn't see her feet past her b00bs) and inevitably injuring herself.  She loved flowers, butterflies, and teddy bears.  She loved to decorate her home for every holiday. 

 

I'm so thankful that she got to meet both of my children, and that we have some pictures of her with them for the wee-lings to look at in the future. 

 

I'm in an odd place with the whole grieving thing.  I feel like the woman I knew as my Grandma has slowly faded away over the past four (almost five) years.  I am happy that she's no longer suffering, and that she is now at peace.  And I'm thankful that my Mom's time as a care-taker is now done... it will obviously be hard for her, but it will be one major stressor off her heart. 

 

Right now, we don't know when we're heading out to K-town.  Possibly early tomorrow morning.  It depends on when the memorial service will be held.  Mom is very overwhelmed right now, and all I want to do is be out there to help.  I will try to post again when we know more.

 

Hobbit-ish Potpurri: The No-Good-Very-Bad Week

Hey Humble Readers...

I totally didn't intend to fall off the face of the earth this week.  But circumstances alter cases, and here I am.  About the only good thing about this week has been the weather... lots of sunshine and warmer temps.  When I say warmer, I mean that we are actually hanging out around the freezing mark. 

*****
Hard on the heels of the yeast beast (which was something I would be super thankful to NEVER EVER have to deal with again), AF showed up.  She was a couple of days early.  I'm wondering if the yeast infection or perhaps the meds contributed to her early arrival.  And yes, she was her usual bitchy self.

*****
GG is going downhill very quickly.  My aunt flew from Manitoba to K-town this morning.  Mom has been basically living at the nursing home.  We aren't anticipating that she will make it through another week.  We have looked into the cost of flying, but given that we now have to pay for a full price ticket for Ginny, it would be about $1200 and then having to pay for a rental car while we're out there.  It looks like when GG passes we'll be driving, which my Beloved isn't thrilled with the idea.  12 hours through the mountains in the winter.  Not going to be a fun trip. 

*****
Pippin has been teething hard this week.  But at least we are seeing some results.  He cut his fifth tooth last night. 

*****
So, remember how we just got my lousy Dell computer back from the repair guys, just a couple of weeks ago?  Well, I had just gotten all my programs reloaded, downloaded and organized all my photos from picasa, and reset all my bookmarks.  Then yesterday happened...

Ginny spilled water on my laptop.  Or rather, she caused me to spill water on my laptop.  I had just sat down on the couch with a full glass of water, my laptop open beside me.  I was looking at Pip and didn't see her dashing over to plow into me.  The glass in my hand went sideways, and about a third of it landed on my laptop keyboard.  I had to disentangle myself from Ginny before I could attempt to do damage control and I think that was my downfall.  I managed to power the computer down, but the screen had already gone black and I heard some of those sickening crackling sounds.  I left it to dry out overnight, and when I tried it this morning it worked for a minute or two before it crackled again and crashed.  The question before us now is do we dump another bunch of money into having it repaired for a third time in the last 10 months, or do we write it off and try to figure out how to work a new one into our budget. 

In the interim, I'm using my Beloved's new laptop when he's not home.  It's a tad frustrating because it runs windows 8 (not bad, just different) and a differently laid out keyboard (the shift key is tiny!). 

*****
I want to leave you with something to make you smile, seeing as all the rest of this has been pretty whiney. 

Ginny & Shadow-Girl

 

One thing I forgot to include in my January post about Ginny was her relationship with her "Shadow-girl".  She first discovered her shadow last summer when the evening sun would shine through our kitchen, but as the summer faded, so did shadow-girl.  Around Christmas time, Ginny found her shadow-girl again, this time on our dining room wall, and started talking to her.  Usually just about her toys or dinner, but it became fairly common.  Then she started giving her shadow-girl smooches and hugs.  She's tried to show Pip his shadow-boy, but he's just not interested.  

Sunday Night Chit Chat: Church Life

Hey Humble Readers...

I hope you've all had a great weekend.  Ours started like last weekend, with me having a very lazy unmotivated Friday.  Not a useful thing.  It made Saturday and today rather busy and meant that a few things had to be put off.  We did accomplish a few things though... Ginny got a haircut, did the weekly shopping, the laundry got done, and I managed to go shopping for myself (more on that later).  And we went to church.

Sunday afternoon playtime with Daddy

Church with a toddler and an infant is a challenge.  Our congregation is wonderfully welcoming of children in worship... in fact, that's a large part of why we choose to worship there.  A lot of churches hold Sunday School at the same time as the worship service, but ours does not.  And I'm thankful for that.  I love that children are all in worship with their parents, and while it's rarely quiet, it feels right to see families worshipping together.  That doesn't mean it's easy for our little family at this stage of the game.  We have a couple of ladies who sit near us, specifically to help us keep Ginny entertained and corralled during the service.  And even with that help, she doesn't always make it through (and we end up taking her to the nursery at the back of the sanctuary), but that's okay.  My Beloved and I think it's important for our wee-lings to experience worship as a family, and learn what it means to be a part of the larger body of believers.  I don't often get to hear the whole sermon because I'm attempting to keep one little person or the other occupied, but I wouldn't give it up for the world. 

Onto tonight's chit chat...

Reading - I just started "At Home In Mitford" by Jan Karon again.  I so love that series, and it's been a couple of years since I last read the whole thing.  I finished "The Changeling" by Philippa Gregory, and to be honest I was a bit disappointed.  The characters seemed flat and one note, and it took quite a while to get going.  It really felt like a larger book got chopped up to make more money out of it.












Watching - It's Sunday.  That means Downton! (and yes, I'm holding off on 'bingeing' just yet.)  I also watched a good documentary on King George V and Queen Mary. 

Listening to - My Beloved nattering to himself as he works on his next assignment for his CGA course.  He just got his first assignment back and he got 92% on it!  Yay!

Baking/Cooking - Tonight's dinner was good.  Chili lime chicken, with the usual Sunday fixings.  Sadly, something went a little funky with my gravy tonight.  It had a bitter aftertaste that I didn't like.  My Beloved didn't think anything was wrong with it, but then, I think he's biased.

Happy you accomplished this week - I bought myself three new pairs of pants today!  All for under $80!  (and for a plus-sized gal with limited options for clothes shopping, this is a steal)  I also changed up our Santa's Choice order to something that will better suit us for next Christmas, made our eye doctor appointments, and there was something else, but it's slipped my mind. 

Looking forward to next week - finding my motivation... getting back on track on a lot of things. 

Thankful for today - a husband with forgiving tastebuds

*BONUS QUESTION* What made you laugh today?  "The word lie is so unmusical." - Dowager Lady Grantham

*****
This was posted as a part of Carla's Sunday Night Chit Chat.  Take a moment to click over and see what others are chatting about tonight.