A taste of spring

First bluebonnet in my backyard.

One of many strawberries.  Can't wait for them to ripen.

 

And this year, we are starting our first hive of bees.  The hive is now painted, awaiting a queen and some workers that are coming in April. We wouldn't mind getting a swarm but have no way to haul them.

Finally!

I am finally over the hump of the holiday crisis at work.  Due to one of our clients and one major customer, my life is been nothing but reports, reports and more reports only for the president (client's office) to finally realize that, yes the product was on the shelf and no, people were not buying as much this year as last.    Go figure!  I am to assume that he does not do the grocery shopping at his home nor does he keep his finger on the pulse of the economy.

I am still working 7 days a week (darn those daily reports) but last week, my hours dropped to about 50 hours.  A definite improvement.

Last weekend was the first weekend in a very long time that I only had work a couple of hours each day.  I actually rested and piddled around the house.  Sunday night I slept 10 hours, which is highly unusual for me. 

Talk about a mild winter.  Yes, we have had some freezing temps but nothing too bad.  February is normally when we have our dab of snow and ice (one night and morning before it is gone) but with 70-80 degree days, not sure we will get any this year.  Even though we will be in the mid 70's  tomorrow, we have a chance for a freeze tomorrow night.  Spring flowers are blooming!  Super crazy.  It is like spring already.  Drought conditions continue so it looks like another hot, dry summer with my favorite fishing hole drying up even more.  Last I saw, it was still down 19', which means, no boat ramps in the water.

I finished the office work I brought home and then thought I would pop by here and at least write a bit.  My life has been work, work, work but I am grateful I still have a job.

Heading to bed where visions of numbers still dance in my head!

Herbal teas

I am not a tea drinker.  Never have been.  Periodically though, I will drink a cup of herbal tea, usually at a friend's house.

In looking for some herbal teas for Waylon , I came across a tea meant just for me.  Egyptian Licorice.  It helps that I am a lover of black licorice, although the taste of licorice is mild.

I am in hog heaven!

A new year!

The best laid plans....I thought I would at least not have to work on New Years Day but I did.  Thankfully it was only for a few hours, which gave me time at home to get my house in order.  All signs of Christmas have been tucked away for another year.

As always, I only have one New Year's resolution and that is to sit at the feet Jesus and learn from Him.

I worked on my annual "to be" list.  Sadly, some of these show up year after year on my list.  Guess I continue to be a work in progress.   This year, some of the items on my "to be" list are:

     1.  To be more alert to the needs around me
     2.  To be more forgiving
     3.  To be more people concerned than me concerned
     4.  To be more attentive and obedient to the prodding of the Holy Spirit

In other words, my annual "to be" list is really "to be more like Jesus"!

January is tax month for me.  Davey's business and personal taxes are pretty easy since everything he owns was paid off in 2011.  Gene's are never complicated and mine don't take too much effort. Come the end of January, I breathe a sigh of relief as I send everything off to the respective CPA's.

The New Year did not start off with fireworks for me (they are banned due to drought conditions) but instead, I was tucked into bed with visions of numbers dancing through my head.

Guess I best get back to work.  Glad I came into the office yesterday and turned the heat up.  I really do not like coming into a cold office at 7am (or earlier).

Blessed New Year!

It's beginning to smell a lot like Christmas

Hobbit Bread - check
Potato Cake - check
Pound Cake - check
Kiss Pies - check

I love the smells of Christmas! 

I survived

In my post on November 19th, I mentioned my days of long hours were over.  Talk about being way off base.  My days were truly just beginning.  I have worked 12-14 hours a day, 7 days a week since that time, other than right at Thanksgiving and last weekend. 

I was able to visit some old friends last weekend, who graciously loaned me their computer to run and download reports I needed so as not to lose the data.  Thankfully, it did not take much time away from our visit.  Ray and Charlotte truly have the gift of hospitality.  I came away mentally refreshed.  Just wished I would have slept more than a few hours although, I must say, getting up way before anyone else and just reading in the quiet of morning was a treat.  A muchly needed treat.

Today, I am working from home and will only go into the office if need be. Thankfully, the office is only 7 miles away.  I copied all our of files so I pretty much can work from home, unless older information is needed.  Just have to remember to check the voicemail periodically. This is normally how I work the last 2 weeks of the year but this year, it just was not possible.

Last night, sheer exhaustion took over my body as I went to bed a little after 8pm and did not arise until 5:15am.  Feel much better. 

Waylon and I are going to do a little stocking stuffer shopping this morning and then attempt to decorate the tree and the house.  We are hoping to have Devon at least one day during Christmas.

Guess I better get about my day!

Should I not get on here again anytime soon, Merry Christmas!  May you and your family have an awe filled day celebrating the birth of Jesus!

Thankful for:

I am so grateful for God, who loves me!

I am grateful for being able to work from home during the holidays so I could get some things accomplished.  My home is clean, I have less stuff cluttering my home and the Thanksgiving meal planned is easy breazy.

I am so very grateful for the love of family and friends and the sharing of the bounty with which we have been blessed.

I am thankful for the ribeyes and salmon and all the sides that filled our table on Thanksgiving.

I am thankful for the 3 dogs we petsat.  It means more home repairs can get done. 

I was hoping the dogs would bond and become buddies but they merely tolerated each other.  I have petsat Dottie since she was one year old.  She is bonded with me to the point that if I am in the house, she will not go outside to the bathroom unless I go out with her.  She is owned by an older, single lady.  She is on a special diet due to allergies and lets just say, she and skunks have a certain odor in common.  It is beyond bad.  Plus, this cute little lady snores worse than me.

Annie is an older dog, Great Pyrenese/Labrador/Chow mix.  She sleeps most of the day away.  She tolerated Dottie but once in a while would remind Dottie she was the bigger dog.  This is a pic of Annie next to my mom and my neighbors labrador.  She is also the only 4 legged people in the home of a single lady.

 

 

I forgot to take a picture of Princess.  This was the first time for her to be at our house.  She is a Chihuaha.  She bit all of us for the first day and finally calmed down.  She is also a runner and we had to be careful not to open the front door around her.  Not fun hunting down a dog in the dark.

I am thankful for the young man who came and replaced my kitchen faucets and my trim boards on the porch and did not gouge me on the price.

I am thankful for my boss who is once again loaning me his truck so we can haul a load of metal to the recycler and then hit Home Depot for a few things.

My list could go on and on. 

It is almost 5am and I need to head to work.  Lots to get accomplished this morning before my boss heads out of town.  I need to go in early so I can get off in time to sit with Carolyn before heading home to work on my to do list.

Thank you Lord for my jobs.