We did get our predicted snow last Friday–3-4 inches at our house. Thankfully the power stayed on. We stayed home Saturday and then ventured out to church Sunday with no problem. It’s been cold enough that some snow is still around. The roads and parking lots are mostly clear, but there’s enough ice to require watchfulness. We’re supposed to get more snow Sunday.
Meanwhile, we’re counting blessings with Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story.
1. A long overdue haircut and a coupon. I had a coupon for a $7.95 haircut at a new place near us. I hadn’t had a cut since September, so it felt really good for the shaggy ends to be cleaned up.
2. An outing. Jason and Mittu invited us to Timothy’s favorite pizza place to celebrate his reaching his reading goals. It was good to get together again–somehow we hadn’t seen each other in a couple of weeks except in passing at church. Plus I enjoyed getting out to do something fun.
3. A dentist’s visit over with. Seeing the dentist is not my favorite thing to do, even as nice as she is. This time, I was concerned about a couple of bumps on the side of my tongue. When one sees bumps where there are not supposed to be any, one’s mind jumps to the worst case scenario (at least this one does). She didn’t think they were anything serious, but took pictures to research further and perhaps consult with an oral surgeon. We talked so much about my tongue that nothing was said about my teeth, but I assume they are all okay.
4. More rooms painted. We have front room that’s smaller than a living room which we have called the sitting room, reading nook, and various other designations. Jim painted that this week and is now on the kitchen/dining area. Along the way, he’s replacing old yellowish light bulbs with brighter white ones. I am so pleased with how everything is looking!
5. Spring cleaning as we go. While Jim had the curtains off the front room window, I thought to myself that I should wash the window while he went out for more paint. That window is hard to get to normally. Then he mentioned that he already had washed it. I washed and ironed the curtains while he took care of the blinds. I mentioned that I’d like to dust the top of some of the pictures before he put them back on the wall, because I had trouble reaching them while dusting. He said he had been dusting all the pictures and plaques before hanging them back up. Isn’t he thoughtful? I helped do some of that after he finished painting the front room. I’ve been astonished at how much dust was still on things that I regularly dust!
While the furniture has been moved out of the way, he’s swept and vacuumed normally hard-to-reach areas.
Probably no one will notice that the curtains have been washed or the farthest corners under the couch swept or the backs of plaques dusted. But it feels good to have them done. It hadn’t occurred to me that we’d be doing this cleaning while painting room by room, but it makes sense to do it while the furniture is out of the way and everything is off the walls. Doing a room at a time is easier than doing all the spring cleaning at once. And, to be honest, I don’t think I have ever spring cleaned this thoroughly.
How is your January going so far?
Stray Thoughts 
My January has not been as busy or productive as yours has been. I have been keeping up with laundry (somewhat) and eating better. 🙂
Wow, that’s a lot of snow in your neck of the woods, I would think! It seems much of the snow is ending up farther south this year. Yay on a dentist appmt behind you, and no apparent problem with the bumpy tongue 🙂 I hear you on the dust. My piano in the foyer gets so dusty and I wonder where it all comes from. It has a shiny black finish where dust really shows up, too. Yay for your husband dusting the picture tops–feels good to do little things like that. And yay too for a needed haircut 🙂 Happy rest of the month to you!
I love that you mention dusting/spring cleaning. I too did that this week. It felt SO good to get rid of some clutter, dust thoroughly…and i’m ahead of the game now as I don’t usually do this until late April or May!
How fun to go and celebrate your grandson’s reading goals! Congrats to him!! (what was his goal?)
i’m with you about the dentist. Although he’s a super great guy as are his sons who are now beginning to take over the practice, I always dread going. I had a “bump” removed by an oral surgeon when I was in my 30s. I was so scared but dave and I prayed and just said well…let’s believe healing. It ended up being a benign thing that sometimes happens when a tooth has been infected. indeed, the previous spring I had had an infected tooth that needed to be removed. They sometimes come after a virus too is what the oral surgeon told me. I will pray for you today!
have a cozy weekend
It’s good to hear that those bumps are probably not a concern. Visiting the dentist is not my favorite thing either.
I plan spring cleaning in a month or so. I need to take curtains down and wash them as well. It is amazing how dust builds up in places you least inspect.
When my youngest son was in school, there was a program called “Book-it” and when the student met his reading goals, he was given a free personal pan pizza at Pizza Hut. We enjoyed several meals there! Mike is an avid reader. Good for Timothy meeting his reading goals.
Congratulations to Timothy for reaching his reading goals!
And I think you need to make sure you keep Jim…what a worker!
You may have had a quiet week, but it was productive. I need to get to cleaning… just don’t have the incentive yet. Maybe next week?
Good news on the dentist appt (not my fave either).
Congrats to Timothy on reaching his reading goal! And it was nice to have the celebratory dinner together.
Stay warm and be careful in all that snow. Willow
That is some haircut coupon! Glad you could take advantage of it.
Love it that Timothy has reading goals, just like his grandma. And what a nice way to celebrate.
You and Jim make a good team with all the household tasks.
You are getting a nice early start on your spring cleaning. It’s always nice to get a dentist visit over with. I need a haircut too and have an appointment in a couple of weeks. I hope you have a good weekend. I got your email about not being able to comment on my blog. Not sure what is up with blogger. Sometimes it is challenging. See you again soon.
Hi Barbara, I got my hair cut too a couple of weeks ago and though I do like long hair, I was ready for a change. Good job Timothy! My 15 year old granddaughter is an avid reader. My 14 year old granddaughter likes crafts like me. Besides singing and playing the piano, she also paints. I am ready to do some cleaning, but still packing up Christmas. Our cruise has me behind, but it will get done. We are freezing when the nights are in the 40’s and the days are in the 60’s. No snow for us. Stay warm and cozy!
The first week of January was cleaning time for me, too. It feels good to get the house shining in winter time. My husband even did a bit of painting!
I feel so much lighter after getting those dental or medical appointments out of the way. I find myself making all kinds of resolutions to be healthier so that I never have to go back, lol.
Say warm! We woke up to snow this morning.
Sounds like you had a very productive week with all the painting and cleaning but with fun things going on too. Well apart from the visit to the dentist lol. Enjoy the rest of the weekend.
I agree doing one room at a time with cleaning is way easier than a big “spring cleaning” job. Sounds like you are making good progress with the cleaning and painting. Congrats to Timothy of reaching his reading goals. Love that it was celebrated in a special way. $7.95 for a haircut. I didn’t know there was such a price anymore.