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I did not go to sleep last night until 5:30 this morning. Then I woke up a few hours later, ready for the day.

Yesterday and today I had energy! Yesterday I moved almost everything in the living room around and vacuumed thoroughly. I compacted what was in there to make room for another freezer and another shelving unit.

I will ditch the table and chairs for lots more usable space! I also need to put the canoe paddles and rolling garden seeder out in storage.

Today I did sort of the same thing in my bedroom. Someday I will work on the 2 closets

The table came with the apartment and I really don’t want it. I can use the top of the freezer or my big folding camp table for working on quilts. Where the table is will be where the freezer goes.

I LOVE my Freecycle vacuum cleaner This is looking from living room to main hall.

Bedroom now that stuff has been compacted. I want to put shelving in the empty space.

The stainless steel shelving in the living room is where my grow lights go. I either want another shelf like it or something that I can use for storage for what’s on the shelves now so that I can grow seedlings later.

Same in the bedroom. I need storage space for fabric and other assorted stuff. My poor closet overfloweth! The messiest part is the 4 big bags of fabric scraps on the floor in front of the clothes.

So far I have paid less than $200 for all the furniture in my apartment thanks to garage sales and Freecycle. Taking into consideration that I do not have much money, got any great ideas for living room, bedroom and closet storage solutions?

I have been randomly taking meat out of the freezer every day or two. This time it was a package of Andouille sausage. By the time I was hungry, I had decided to make Jambalaya. Here’s how I made mine…

Andouille sausage, cut in rounds
olive oil
1 onion, diced
a bunch of my frozen, diced peppers
half a colander of cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
1/2 pound of shrimp, thawed, tails off
Creole spice to taste
a big glug of minced garlic from a jar

I sauteed the onion and sausage in olive oil, then added peppers and tomatoes. Cooked until saucy. Added spice, garlic and shrimp. Cook until just heated through. Serve on a bowl of rice.

PS….Zeke always eats all the shrimp shells. Makes him VERY happy

Look what I found! I about fell on the floor!

Great conversation starter at get-togethers :-p

“On many days, doing what matters most will not be easy. It is not supposed to be. God’s purpose in creation was to let us prove ourselves. The plan was explained to us in the spirit world before we were born. We were valiant enough there to qualify for the opportunity to choose against temptation here to prepare for eternal life, the greatest of all the gifts of God. We rejoiced to know the test would be one of faithful obedience even when it would not be easy.”

Last night I hung a sign on my door that said Napping….Shhhhhhh….

I got in bed at 6 PM, I got out at 6 AM. Of course I had to let Zeke in and out many times, etc…..but I did get some much needed rest.

Yesterday was dreary. All of us involved in the “excitement” here at the apartment were sick and depressed and sore and blah. All those chemical insults plus the emotional toll of being around bad stuff wore us out.

I woke up to my tongue so swollen it took up most of my mouth space, a very sore throat and my lungs full of crud. My chest and lungs hurt bad all day yesterday. If there was more last night, I slept through it. I was soooooooo mentally and physically tired! I still am.

While Beth and Luc were here in the afternoon, a very owie and weird thing happened to me. The veins at my left wrist popped out huge, hurt like heck and got HOT. Beth was surprised how hot. Then a few minutes later, the veins at my right temple popped out. Soon after I could feel the veins inside my throat on the right side do the same thing. Geeze! I’m not talking something minor. That was freaky and hurt like you cannot imagine! It was then gone as quickly as it came.

Now that it’s finally getting light out, I can see the snow better. Yesterday morning we had those bouncy round snowballs coming down. This morning it’s regular ol’ snow.  Hello winter!

I made a crock pot full of my usual Greek yogurt, but this batch came out better than any ever have before. Only problem is…I changed several things. I’m not sure which of them made the difference. That just gives me more reasons to experiment!

I followed the directions I have posted before. HERE. BUT….since my van does not work and I ran out of milk before I could send my health aide shopping, I used 2 of the 1-quart powdered milk packs, 2 cans of evaporated milk and 5 cans of water. That goes almost to the top of my crock pot. Then I added the last 4th of a pint of Chobani Greek yogurt plus a couple of tablespoons sour cream.  I had noticed that sour cream has culture in it. Horizon organic sour cream advertises theirs as having live, active cultures….like yogurt does. I have no idea if the Aldi sour cream I used has active cultures. I figured I would see if it tasted good. It does…but why??? Hmmmm…a mystery to be solved

Well…I’m not as frugal as my upstairs neighbor…I believe he STILL has a credit. But, I am waaaaay more frugal than everybody but him in this complex! I just used up the last of my HEAP subsidy for electricity. My Bill this month is for $4.59 “real money”. If I am lucky, next month I should be on HEAP again.

Now that I know I can make it pretty well, I hope to stay warmer by using my little portable heater. I use it for a half hour or less each time when I am really cold. I have not turned on my baseboard heaters yet this year. Pretty good considering we have had nights in the teens and snow since September!

My next project will be to get put on a monthly plan where they average the year and I pay the same each month. That way it will not be so painful for the month or two I pay out of pocket.

Do you think what I said is offensive? I wrote an email in response to a comment….

The not nice person said:

>  most people remain on moderation
> for
> lack of trimming.
> =====================

I responded:
> I am on moderation because of your snit fit. It sux. It has
> been a year
======================

That was the ENTIRE conversation. The response was this (and a whole lot more!):

ya know, wendy, i was just gonna respond to your first email and tell you not to contact me off-list if you are going to be disrespectful. snit is offensive. as is calling me an idiot on your blog.

=================

I did say that? Cool! I sure think so now.

I am sooooooooooooooo tired of being messed with today…..

“Stresses in our lives come regardless of our circumstances. We must deal with them the best we can. But we should not let them get in the way of what is most important—and what is most important almost always involves the people around us. Often we assume that they must know how much we love them. But we should never assume; we should let them know. Wrote William Shakespeare, “They do not love that do not show their love.” We will never regret the kind words spoken or the affection shown. Rather, our regrets will come if such things are omitted from our relationships with those who mean the most to us.”