Making - Turkey noodle soup! The house smells wonderful and simmering soup always makes me feel thrifty and cozy. These are good things, especially in light of what I'm watching (below).
Watching - The weather. This kind of snuck up on me. I had plans to head to MD with John on Sunday, but after checking the weather I decided to stay in NJ. We were supposed to start with snow and ice early Sunday morning, then a change to rain, followed by snow until early Tuesday morning. So I'm here in NJ to get a bunch of stuff done, plus shoveling. We have estimates of 4-12", so I'm hoping for the lesser amount.
Surveying - My pile o' purchased presents.
Planning - What else I need to get for Christmas. I still need to make a trip to the liquor store (after the weather clears), a few gift certificates, and there is always a Rikke hat (or two) on the needles.
Looking forward to - A trip to the oil company. This probably sounds a little odd, but for years we struggled with what to get John's mother for Christmas. One day it came to me -- a gift certificate for heating oil would be perfect! She was on a fixed income and always cold, so I know she looked forward to receiving this gift, and I've looked forward to gifting it for the past 10 years. She passed away in January, so I've been thinking about her often. John's brother lives in her house and we decided he now gets the heating oil gift certificate. I wonder if he'll turn the heat up above 60 degrees after opening it? (There is the added bonus of the National Parks calendars from the oil company. It's the little things!)
Getting ready to tackle - Wrapping the presents. If I get this chore done before next Saturday I can deliver gifts in person instead of having to mail them. This just may provide the incentive I need.
Anticipating - Family Cookie Day next Saturday. Women in the family have gathered for ten years or so to bake, exchange, and eat cookies. That's part of what I need to do on Friday -- bake dozens of cookies and make chili so we can eat something for lunch besides cookies. There are 8-10 of us, so I bake my cookies ahead of time to ease the waiting-for-the-oven backlog.
Hoping - That the oil leak my car has doesn't get any worse before I can schedule and afford the $1500 repair.
Wondering - Why I seem to have such trouble communicating with the men at my local Subaru service center. Maybe I don't understand all the correct terminology, but I try, ask lots of questions, and it seems like it is their job to be able to explain things to all of their customers. It almost feels like they try to obfuscate the situation, but if I'm going to be paying $1500+, they can explain what the cam caps and cam carrier are and why they are dripping oil onto the manifold.
Trusting - That the universe is unfolding as it should, and sometimes wishing that I could nudge it to unfold in slightly better ways. :-)
What's going on in your world right now?
I'll admit I chuckled a bit at the idea of heating oil as a Christmas gift, but I have to say that I think it's a brilliant idea! It's not particularly sentimental, but it's certainly something that gets used every day and is greatly appreciated!
ReplyDeleteI'm nursing my coffee and mentally preparing myself to go back to work this morning.
I'm coming over for some soup! I wish the universe would unfold so I get my son who is searching for a job to live close to us! That is a low chance... Anyways loved seeing what you are thinking about.
ReplyDeleteThe heating oil is a fantastic gift!
ReplyDeleteI love practical gifts! The heating oil is a fantastic idea! Wrapping Christmas gifts? I haven't even thought about Christmas yet, though I only have to get ONE present this year! No knitting this year for gifts....yeah, no stress, no dead lines!
ReplyDeleteThe heating oil gift brought tears to my eyes - we did something similar with my Nana (no heating oil at her house, but winter months always boosted expenses) For us it was a small thing, but for her it was huge.
ReplyDeleteAnd I hope that you can clearly explain to those Male Brains at the Subaru place that explaining things to *all* customers in a way they can understand is not only necessary, but the right thing to do!
Stay warm and dry! (and I hope the shoveling is minimal!!)
Love the idea of gifting heating oil for Christmas. That is just great! If we had oil heat, I would love that. I am missing (again) the scent of soup simmering on the stove. Col & Mailing gave us leftovers to bring home, but I miss making soup and having turkey sandwiches for days and days!! I actually started wrapping some gifts that need to be mailed. I'm ahead of the game!!
ReplyDeleteStay safe in the storm...it was snowing here earlier, now it looks like it stopped, but our forecast is for 2-5". Don't over-do it on the shoveling!!
That stinks that your Subaru people aren't willing to explain things. You should come up here to my Subaru dealership, they are terrific and there's no mansplaining involved. Good luck with getting your things accomplished this week!
ReplyDeleteHere's to lesser count of snow and minimal shoveling! Your gift will be so appreciated! You've inspired me to get my shopping finished. I have been putting it all off (I only buy a couple of things) because I need to make a trip to the dreaded mall. Good luck with the car. Men! Why is it they don't understand us and we don't understand them?!
ReplyDeleteYIKES! I looked up cam caps leaks, and I found lots of information. Now I know what it is, but I hope I never have to get it repaired! I also found a web site that said it should cost less than $400 to repair, so you may want to do some investigations. I hope your weather turns out to be less horrendous than you anticipate! I will be thinking about you. And, Bonny, get those presents wrapped! It will decrease your stress so much to get that all done and delivered, don't you think? Sounds like some alcohol and music are called for to move it along, yes? I plan to make some turkey soup myself today.
ReplyDeleteI made broth from the carcass yesterday. I really like these posts, keep it up!
Your gift of heating oil is wonderful!
ReplyDeleteMy tire pressure alarm has come on three times in the past month and they can't find any leaks and the pressure is never that much off, I wish my mechanics would figure out what its all about!
I think the snow you are getting is all the cold rain we had over the weekend...we were lucky because if it had been just a few degrees colder we would have had all that snow. Stay safe & warm!
We're a family of practical gift-givers, and heating oil fits the bill wonderfully. I wish someone would gift me some!
DeleteThis isn't really of much help, but Ryan's old car (the one he crashed) had exactly the same problem with his tire pressure monitoring system. He ended up replacing the TPMS on each tire several times along with the module that reads the pressures, but it just kept recurring. He finally gave up, put a piece of black electrical tape over the warning light, got a good tire gauge and just checked the pressures weekly. Very aggravating (and expensive)!
My uncle worked for a Ford dealership as a mechanic for his entire adult life and, of course, drove Ford vehicles. The "check engine" light illuminated on one of them and even he was unable to figure out why and/or get it to turn off... so he covered it up with electrical tape. ;)
DeleteI hope the universe works out as you'd like. I feel like I spent the entire summer scowling at the universe but in the end it did play out nicely. Love the oil heat idea and I'm sure your b-i-l will be quite pleased! Here's to productive snowy days!
ReplyDeleteI am in awe of how on top of all the gifts you are and how calm you are about the snow. Here's to nudging the universe to all the better outcomes!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you are well on your way to be ready for Christmas. Your cookie day sounds like so much fun. My sister and I had a cookie day together with our kids when they were young and lived at home. I miss that tradition. Today the sun was out so I shopped for some gifts to mail in packages early next week.
ReplyDeleteWOW! You are on a roll and it’s only the 2nd of December. I’ve yet to bring decorations up from the basement. I applaud you and hope you get the car oil issue resolved with minimal expense on your end. Carry on!
ReplyDeleteCheers~
well you do sound so ready for Christmas. I too hate car issues and their place In my world: Absolute chaos is trying to prevail after my fathers death. My sister is trying her darnedest to make us all miserable. Im trying to make decisions about the funeral. I don't know about you but my family becomes a ridiculous circus with the ringmaster our oldest sister who cares for no one but herself. Oh, Im eating lots of cookies
ReplyDeleteI'm so very sorry to hear about the loss of your father. I'm tempted to say "not your circus, not your monkeys", except you're forced to attend the circus. I hope you can make decisions, keep focused, remain peaceful, and eat all the cookies you want to.
DeleteCookie Day sounds like SO MUCH FUN!!
ReplyDelete