In other news, my niece Ellie (2) and nephew Ben (4) are coming for the weekend so their mom and dad can go on retreat. I'm thrilled to spend the weekend with them, especially since I don't see them all that often. However, I also have to remember to keep my expectations low for getting anything productive done. I'm giving up the idea of taking apart the dishwasher- it simply won't happen. But I'm hoping to reorganize the family room closet and my sewing area- in fact, since the play kitchen and all the play food is in the famly room, there's a decent chance the kids will play while I work right there... so maybe I can get that done... maybe. I had originally hoped to finish the garden clean up and rake leaves, but if it's going to be as cold and yucky out as predicted, that may not happen either.

My real goal for the weekend: Spend quality time with Ben & Ellie, feed them, change them, clean up a lot of toys, get them to actually sleep, etc.

My lofty goals: do my laundry, clean and organize family room closet, wash the kitchen floor.

A change in the weather...

One thing I've learned as a homeowner is that no project is as simple as you think. Sigh. Last weekend I went to paint the window boards (on the outside) under my front bay window to find 1 of them rotted through and the other two not in great shape. Awesome. So I removed them, bought a replacement board, begged my brother to use his router to make them fit, and tried to reinstall them... but the notch wasn't deep enough, so the next day I went back and Brendan cut the notch deeper. By then it was Sunday night. Tuesday night I installed the boards, in the dark, planning to paint and caulk them this weekend (since it is dark by the time I get home from work, and painting in the dark isn't my forte). Bad move Reen. The weekend forecast involves snow, rain, and cold. None of which really works for painting. Ugh. I'm revising the plan to go home at lunch today (if it stops raining) and at least prime the boards. Like I said, no project is every as simple as you think...

WHAT???

“I voted for Barak Obama because I’m pro-choice and I think if you have someone in your life you don’t want in your life, you should just be able to kill them.” Caller on the Dave Ramsey show

Cora and I both did a double take sitting in our office listening to the show. “WHAT???” Thankfully, the caller’s sarcasm became clearer and clearer as the call went on. Nonetheless, I wish Obama had been honest and stated his position on life as clearly.

I’m not feeling overly positive about the outcome of this election right now, but I’m avoiding the commentary for now since it will all be premature. May God’s will be done. I am confident of this, no matter who wins the election and how it all goes down, the world will not come to an end. We are still called to be the Light in the darkness, no matter who the president is, and we are continually called to a life of holiness and evangelization. And, frankly, I’m very thankful we’re about done with all the campaigning!!!

Now, on to excessive amounts of Christmas music, which I heard playing over the speakers in Target on November 2nd!!! What is this world coming to? Can we vote on how soon is too soon for Christmas music???

Happy Anniversary

Today is the 6-year anniversary of buying my house!!

The Nichols Homestead has been such a huge responsibility, a blessing, a joy, a pain in the tush, an ongoing project, a party house, animal house, crazy house, halfway house...

The Nichols Homestead has taught me a lot... about life, about plumbing, about being broke, about housemates, about fixing and taking apart things, about perseverance, about loneliness, about trusting God, about myself...

It's interesting to look back and think about where I was at 6 years ago when I bought the house, and see how much I've grown and changed though that time. It's amazing to think where my friends and family were at then, and how much they've changed and procreated since that time :) Wow.

Anyway, that's my happy thought of the day!

One of those weeks...

My goddaughter Maria (age 2) is very into happy faces and sad faces. She loves them and wants them drawn on her hands, draws them herself, wants you to draw them, and best of all, she will demonstrate them on her expressive little face. So today I’m going to blog in terms of happy faces and sad faces, list style:

-I broke my glasses on Saturday
-I lost my cell phone plug in charger a week ago, maybe I dropped it out of an open bag between the women’s retreat and home? I don’t know, but I can’t find it anywhere.
-I broke my car cell phone charger—so my phone died completely which seriously complicates things
-had the beginnings of a cold over the weekend
-my car is making exhaust sounds-- probably has a hole in the exhaust pipe
-other than a quick clean to prepare for my guest and the applesaucing, it was an entirely unproductive weekend
-most of the sweaters I pulled out of storage are old and shrunken into funny shapes or shorter than I’d like… true that most of them have been around awhile, but I’d forgotten how bad some of them are.
-it feels like winter is really coming… I can’t handle that…

-i am behind on everything!!!


-hanging out and crafting with theJuneBride- my crafting hero- for awhile on Friday night, I rarely get to hang out with her, so it was fun to chat and obsess with someone who has more projects going than I do :)
-Seeing and catching up with a good friend who stayed with me Friday night to Saturday, including a trek to a new apple orchard
-Maria’s birthday party on Saturday night, she is quite a ham and did a lot of tricks for her adoring fans… hilarious!
-Applesauce making, round 2, with Jen, Cora, Collin & Beth (and at the end Brendan, Geno, and Lucy)
-dinner and game night with friends
-I got my teeth cleaned after a long absence (and having to find a new dentist who takes my insurance)
-I was asked to be the godmother for a good friend’s son J yay!!
-Dinner with Kathleen, Ben and Ellie- those kids are just delightful and it was great to hang out with them! I never see enough of them. And once they were in bed, it was nice to catch up with my sis too.
-the actual cold never really materialized, thank God!
-I'm very excited to go visit the newly arrived Monica, and now that my phone is charged again, I can call to make arrangements

-beautiful fall colors

-all things politics
-cold weather

The garden is done...

I'm pretty sure 2008 was nowhere close to being a record garden year at the Nichols homestead. I neglected it a lot. Weeds grew better than the plants. The tomatoes withered early. Not the greatest year. But not horrible either. On friday evening I went out to pick whatever was left since I knew the freeze was coming.


I ended up with about a half bushel of green tomatoes, which will ripen a few at a time in the coming months. I've also got a small bowl of sweet peppers, a bunch of carrots, a small bowl of tomatillos, and a big bunch of basil.


I am also experimenting by bringing in a tomato plant from the patio. I potted it this spring when it volunteered in my flower garden. Then all the leaves got eaten by one of those disgusting tomato worms. and then in the last few weeks, it re-grew all of its leaves and began flowering. Interesting. So I brought it inside, we shall see if it actually grows tomatoes. In the meantime, I've got plenty of green tomatoes from the garden to keep me going :)