Um, does anyone
know what happened to January? It was
there just a minute ago and now it is already February. Oh my goodness!
A bowl of hot soup sure fits the bill this time of year
The cold winter
weather has hit us with lows in the teens overnight not much above freezing
during the day. As long as the wind
doesn’t blow it is palatable. Once it
gets above freezing I’ve been going outside and working on getting the car
cleaned up. Slowly, but surely I am
making progress. Check back on Wednesday
to hear more about the car and what I’ve been doing.
I baked up this cute little pumpkin pie I had left from the holidays
I worked all day
Friday and then Monday, Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Starting next week I will only be working
three days a week and have asked to have the other two days off paired together
moving forward. I need more “me time”
and I’m very much looking forward to it.
Friday will continue to be my set full day and then they will schedule
me according to the activities I am driving for and such the other two. I told them I will still be available to fill
in for vacations and people that call in sick, but for the most part I feel the
need to spend less time there and more time doing other things on my retirement
list. It is going to be a very good
thing.
I was hit with four
more unexpected surprises last week. My
January power bill arrived and was much less than anticipated, far less than
last year’s bill at this time. I also
received a coupon in the mail from Winco for $10 OFF a $50 Purchase on my next trip to the grocery store. Those offers come few and far between! This particular store doesn’t do a lot of
that. I was blessed with a Buy Me Coffee gift which I was so
grateful to receive and another kind soul sent me some Happy Mail! My semiannual good driver rebate check
arrived in the mail from my insurance company too. That one was expected, but I added it to the
bounty.
Winco - A pretty good stock up!
I worked on a
shopping list and then on Sunday morning, bright and early, I headed out to get
it done and take advantage of that coupon with the extra cash in my checking
account that I did not need to send to the power company. With that little windfall I was able to pick
up fresh produce, milk, eggs and pantry staples to replace what I’ve been
using. Huge blessings! Again!
A stop at Trader Joes
Once the
temperatures rose above freezing I went outside and spent over two more hours
working on the car cleaning the inside cargo area and then the backseat
area. By the time I was done I noticed
that the water I had dripped on the driveway was beginning to freeze so I
gathered up my tools and supplies and headed back inside. I am pretty much at a stopping point now
until the weather warms up considerably and then I’ll be shampooing the carpet and
upholstery.
Much better!
I did not ride
the bus all week because I am thoroughly enjoying my new ride. Once the newness wears off a bit I’m sure
I’ll be back to it. But in the meantime
I’m sure having fun! On the way home from
work Tuesday I stopped into Dollar Tree and picked up a few items I needed for
a quick little, but important project.
Once home I grabbed my tote of first aid supplies and an extra food
storage container I had to make a first aid kit for the car. I keep one in the truck so I also wanted one
for the car. Using snack size Ziploc bags
I was able to put together a nice little kit and it is slim enough to fit right
inside the cargo net on the back of the front passenger seat where it will be
easily accessible. I am quite pleased
with it and I only had to purchase two things – band aids and first aid
tape. Everything else I already had on
hand at home.
My Last Weekly
Challenge – Do Something Crafty
How Did I Do? I did two things. First I made extra pages for my daily journal.
Then I grabbed some acrylic paints I had
in my craft room as well as an XOXO that I had purchased at Dollar Tree last
year. I told myself that I either needed
to complete this project or donate it so someone else could do it. I decided to go ahead and do it up and I love
how it turned out. I don’t typically
decorate much for Valentine’s Day but I do think I’d like to make it more of a
priority to decorate and celebrate all of the holidays.
And with that another
retirement week and the first month of 2025 has come to an end. How was your week? Anything exciting going on? We are supposed to get a few days of rain here
with snow in the mountains. How’s the
weather where you are at?
FYI - My retirement week runs Friday
through Thursday
