I am a retired 44-year veteran of the Real Estate Assessment field. As with real estate assessing and how it applies to real estate taxes, one can make many acquaintances, but not many real friends. It was a great career choice.
It has been nearly 10 years since I reclaimed my home and my real passions within my home. I enjoy it more each day and tip my hat to those who I left behind.
Each day I try to stretch myself with the use of my computer as it relates to this site and using it to print out labels for quilts for trying to incorporate photos into my sewing. Life is so full and I know that I have room for more.
Running errands today in the cold allowed the arthritis to bark when I got home to the warmth of the home and relaxed. The kid’s grandmother, Esther Schafer, told the stories of arthritis traveling through the body and then there would be a respite. O.K. – I have my ticket punched – are we there yet?
The Inch as Foretold
In the future when I hear we are about to get an inch of snow, I will automatically take the forecast amount and times it by six. The snow would have made perfect snowmen. Dennis and I worked together at a very “steady Eddy” but slow pace as the weight of the snow was unbelievable.
It is a given when Dennis goes out to the garage in the mornings to put the cat food out for the neighborhood homeless cats, Honey Bunny, our garage kitty, almost runs over Dennis to get out and start making her neighborhood rounds. This morning Honey Bunny didn’t venture very far from her pillow in one of the porch chairs. As the day went on and the snow got deeper I did take note that she shifted from one chair to another.
The Rest of the Story
I will comment on one thing, after a good work out in the fresh air, coming inside and feeling the warmth of the furnace is pretty sweet. Yes, we may have gotten six inches rather than the one inch we are safe and sound. When I saw school closings yesterday in the northern portion of the state I was feeling quite smug. Even when the rain began last night I kept hoping that we would be spared. But alas — not so much. Here on Stauffer, Honey Bunny knows she has it made, just as Dennis and I know the very same thing. Hunkering down when it gets white out with a slippery base, it is just the very best.
It can’t be denied – school closings flashing across the bottom of the morning news tells me that winter will again happen this year.
Stairway to Treasures
Some may say annex – some may say attic. Well, alright I’ll say attic as well. It all comes down to wonderful extra storage space. I couldn’t wait to ascend the steps this morning and begin pulling out the Christmas decorations. The day after Thanksgiving is the official start of dressing my home for the birth of Jesus. Though I have not bought any new decorations for decades it is as if each box contains a new treasure.
The rocking chair that I used to rock both Carrie and Kevin when they were infants and toddlers is sitting in the middle of the attic floor. When I seek and search items in storage containers it’s my favorite place to sit. Looking through the patterns for quilting or crocheting I can easily loose track of time. The rocker was purchased in Mart, Texas. Carrie and Kevin’s dad reupholstered it in 1978 when avocado green was all the rage. 
It’s hard to believe that the chair is 49 years old. I digress: this morning Dennis brought down the Christmas tree from the attic and then he was off enjoying some of his friends in Jackson as they are setting up for a gun show for the weekend. This gave me a chance to have a bag of microwave popcorn for noon lunch with the coffee pot not having a chance to cool down. Several trips up and down the attic steps and it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas here on Staffer Avenue. If ever there is a missing person bulletin put out on me I do have a directive taped to the microwave – “check the attic.”
The Shelter from the Cold has been Discovered
I have mentioned often that Dennis takes care of a lot of kitties that have no home making sure if they get to our patio they will have Meow Mix and water (during the winter it is warmed). Several weeks ago we rummaged around in our potting shed and came up with an extra large barrel that we put on the north side of the house. Several stakes were put in the ground so it couldn’t move around and we wedged in a length of Styrofoam insulation to protect the front opening. I knew I had saved bits of quilt batting for a reason. The batting coupled with egg crate Styrofoam has made a bit of a nest inside the barrel. This morning it was seven above and as I was heading out on errands I just had to take a peek. I like it – I like it a lot. One of the stray cats have decided it was just the ticket for shelter. As we get snow we may have to somehow rethink this and tent the project.
Today was a day of reality. Putting the winter quilt and flannel sheets on the bed is acknowledging that I can’t wish winter away.
Another gift of a day with sun and temps in the mid-forties. A great work out at the Super 8 pool and of course – the plan of action for the day was decided. The huge grain elevator just several blocks away is finally caught up with the bulk of corn that needed to be dried. With the drying comes drifts of the pink chafe that blows in the wind and just so happens to stick to the house, the windows and the screens. The street that runs by our home is the thoroughfare for the semis hauling the grain and multiple 18 wheelers over an eight week period of time can raise dust even on the hardest of streets. I hated to see Dennis washing off the house on his own but I also knew if I started bugging him I might just get a dose of cold water so I was prompted to get out a step ladder and clean the eave troughs on both the garage and garage porch.
Finally the winds have cleaned the trees of the leaves and by all accounts most of them are in the troughs to cause a lot of problems when the early spring rains arrive. For two older ones we never seem to run out of things to do on Stauffer Avenue. Could it have anything to do with the fact that when we were quite young the work ethics were deeply ingrained in each of us? Would I want it any differently? Absolutely not. For me the satisfaction of a good-effort day is priceless. Gotta run – the satisfaction is turning into relaxation and I can hear the mummer of my recliner calling me. Catch ya later.
My least favorite area of the home is clean around the computer. That area collects everything and after today – not so much. The day began as usual and as usual I had my coffee cup in hand when I fired up the laptop. In my corner of the world the laptop is not portable. I don’t drag it around the house as it beckons me to its permanent area. Four years ago I wanted a second computer in our home that was compact and when I ordered it my biggest concern was storage of photos and a lot of them. In a corner of our living room is where my command center is for emails, on line banking, any and all correspondence from Stauffer Avenue and creating my blog entries all via a wireless connection from – hubby Dennis’ command center in our west porch. I am very proud that Dennis at the wonderful age of 77 has his own Facebook friends, his own email friends and his own favorite sites to surf not to mention a great game of cribbage. These two separate areas of the home keep us both curious and connected to things that make us interesting to be around.
There you have it. Not one but two computer areas that are under that “least favorite” places to clean and today the wind blew in the enthusiasm to do it. It began this morning when I set my coffee cup down and I noticed that sometime in the past I had spilled a bit of coffee on the glass surface and when I went to swipe at it to clean it there was no swipe about it. It must have been there a bit longer than I remembered along with a few wayward tell tale crumbs. Why I kept extra paper items and post-a-notes to move around is beyond my recollection. Four hours later Dennis and I both have clean computer areas to again drink coffee over, enjoy a snack over and make it our own space with our own special crumbs. We do our meals at the dining room table but ya gotta have a place that’s just “mine” to while away a bit of time. It’s a good thing.
For over forty plus years the first thing I did at my desk at the courthouse was to check over the day’s work plan with some additions and some subtractions. Hmm. Now being retired I am still doing the work plan and reviewing it as I do my exercises and laps at the Super 8 pool – who needs a desk? The need to have a plan is deeply ingrained and I benefit from it and I don’t easily stray from it. Do I think it’s a habit I no longer need and could wean myself from? I think I’ll be keeping that habit as I don’t enjoy being unorganized and having it cause a crisis here on Stauffer Avenue. We like the feeling of the retirement ease of each day. Catch ya later.
The Hardest of the Kids to Control
Here it is a Saturday on Stauffer Ave. and all I can say is “naughty kids.” I am not referring to our two-legged ones. Dennis’ garage porch kid, aka: Honey Bunny. Wednesday morning she trotted of and has not been seen of since. She is very able-bodied and has claws on all four. She has had the run of the yards but always returned to enjoy one of her many cushions to curl up on for naps. Each evening Dennis walked the area calling for her with no avail. Dennis had a meeting at the VFW this afternoon and pretty much gave up on her but hoped she had not suffered. This afternoon I took to the yards and came to agree with Dennis. I have several house plants that are enjoying the garage porch for the winter and I got the watering can out. Dennis’s son drove up and I set everything down and we went into the house. After Ken left I went back to the garage porch and there in my rocking chair was Honey Bunny as if she had been there the entire time. Seriously? We had waited up for her every night much like when the two legged kids were out and about. We were a lot younger then and a scolding on them had an impact but not so much on this kid. I got her brush out and she totally gave it over for a full body brushing, purring the entire time. I would have loved to have had a nanny camera on her to find out where she had been, what had she eaten, did she have water to drink and where had she slept? It’s a good thing Dennis and I already have gray hair.