The Cottage on the Hill

Oh what fun! Last weekend the local Catholic school held an indoor tag sale! The place was milling with people, but I managed to get some neat things: a little red old-fashioned-type baby piano for the baby's room a copper gelatin mold a box of stationary two sets of brand new baby shower thank you cards a really cute silk blend mint colored cardigan with embroidered flowers on it a Fannie Farmer cookbook two old text books (New York State Second Year Arithmetic and Business Arithmetic) I spent $8.25 (the little piano was $5.00) ladyscott

March 20th! Spring is officially here at 1:26 pm EST! I'm so glad, even if it is only 25 degrees F out today. The sun is out, so I'm happy. There's a song my hubby and I listen to whenever we need a boost, especially during the cabin fever days of late winter. It's from the celtic band Runrig: Maymorning I'm alive again on a Maymorning Going to wipe the slate clean Follow my dreams All the yearning buds are here again With the the promise of a new life to come Spring is here again The sun is melting over the hills All our roads are waitingTo be revealed For this in day history has brought us to here Now it's all there for the taking The day is what you see The light's returning, the work is in hand All the cynics have vanished From where we stand All the chances wasted are drawing me near And all around there's new life rising From the winter fields I'm alive again I'm alive again Of course, this about a May morning, not March. Spring we...

The sun is shining, the sky is blue, and there's hardly any snow on the ground. It looks like a lovely early spring day. Just open the door, though and you'll realize it's still winter. My neighbor's daughters looked like they were going on a polar expedition while waiting for the bus. I did see my first robin of spring last Sunday, though. Unfortunately, it was dead in the road! If I believed in omens, I'd take that as one! LOL I am 5 weeks, 6 days from my due date! Pregnancy is becoming quite cumbersome, but I have good days and bad days. It is nice to have the excuse to rest when I please, but I don't like to abuse the privaledge. My greatest desire to is putter in the yard, but not in this frigid weather! Happy St. Patrick's Day to all those who observe! Hubby and I are having bangers and mash for dinner. The corned beef is too expensive this year. We're not Irish, though. He's Scottish and Italian. I'm German, Polish, and Wels...

After succumbing to some bad eating habits these past few days, and feeling achy from the pregnancy weight I've gained, and reading magazine after magazine concerning health and nutrition, food has been on my mind. I keep reading about portion control and the appropriate number of calories certain people need to take in. Apparently, America eats too much (as if that's not obvious already). Our portions are huge! I rarely can finish a meal at a restaurant, and when I do, everyone's thrilled. But, if you think about it, I just ate a meal for 3 adults! No wonder America's fat! Thankfully, I've never been overweight. Underweight, yes. Overweight, no. Sooo....I've been reading up on what serving sizes and portions are and I'm shocked at how little they are!! I think, how can anyone feel full on that?! So, I decided to take on a challenge (I'll talk about it later in the post). Can I cut my portions into individual serving sizes and still feel full?...

I have to laugh at my mixed emotions. I'm so blessed and prayers have been answered in my life, yet at the time same time I'm a bit grumpy. I'm thankful for the blessings, but there's a few things going on that have me a little perterbed. My car breaking is one of them. The bathroom door broke and it's causing hubby a great headache. The weather is turning colder. My knee is killing me and the rest of my body is helping it along. I can't sleep in bed anymore. It's too uncomfortable. Mud season has started, so I can't keep the floors clean. I'm super clumsy and keep dropping things, but I can barely get down to pick them up again..... But it's funny that one thing falls on top of the other.....it's like the fellow who stubs his toe and gets so mad at it he hits the wall. That causes the wall to break and his knuckles to throb. While fixing the wall, he splots putty on the carpet that causes his wife to grump about it which gets him...

It's been decided as of this morning. We're saving up for a down payment on a different vehicle. Last night was the last straw with my car. This car has given me nothing but headaches since we bought it 3 years ago. Granted, not all of it was it's fault. Someone dumped corn syrup in the gas tank and my brakelines were mysteriously severed at one point. But, we've still dumped more money into that car and not one thing was covered under warrenty or insurance!! UGH!!! Last night, I went out to pick up Chinese for dinner. It was fairly obvious the alternator wasn't up to par. I hardly had any power. I did not leave any lights on and it is a new battery in the car. When I turned off the headlights, the switch broke in two in my hand. Now, I can't even turn my headlights on. Not to mention the car's been recalled numerous times. So......hubby and I are looking into buying a used Dodge Durango or GMC Jimmy. Something that'll accomodate our growi...

I'm 33 weeks, 1 day pregnant today and the baby is in the head-down position! :) I breathe a sigh of relief knowing that he's not breech. I had a feeling he was head down anyway because I can feel his little fanny when I pat my tummy. I've also felt jabs in the diaphragm that feel like little feet kicking away. :) It isn't long now! It kinda awes me that even though my baby isn't born yet, he's only inches, just inches from air. He's here, he's just not here-here. He's in my womb, but hasn't felt the air of the world on his skin yet. My mother gave me a rocking chair for the nursery! I'm so thrilled with it. Right now, it's residing in the dining room next to the window. I can sit in it and watch the birds at the bird feeder. Today is a gorgeous day! I want to let my dog outside to play, but she'd get really muddy and I have no one to lift her in the tub. Hubby's at work and my brother will be leaving for work soon. ...

Only 13 days until Spring! Only 18 days until the Baby Shower! Only 51 days until my due date!

A lot of women see having a baby as adding on those extra pounds, spreading out and no longer having that youthful figure. In general, that's true, but I see having a baby as a great opportunity to lose weight, tone up, and enjoy greater health. After all, I need to be twice as healthy with my next pregnancy because I'll be running around after a little one! I hear giggles from seasoned mothers. These are the ones that tell me, you'll be lucky to put a brush in your hair let alone exercise. You'll be eating whatever you can grab, not preparing a fresh salad. I admit, this is my first pregnancy. I don't know what to expect after baby is born. But I didn't know what to expect with my pregnancy, and I've worked through that! Part of it is just making up our mind. The other part is praying about it. And yet another part is using the situation as an advantage. After all, I've already developed good eating habits and more nutritional eating habits to...

I'm washing my bedding today. I got thinking that the next time I wash the sheets, I'll be packing away the flannel ones and breaking out the cotton sateen ones! A sure sign of spring!!

I'm doing well with this limited computer thing. :) I've got 98% of my chores done for the day! So, I decided to treat myself to some blog time. :) I have a galley kitchen. This galley kitchen has 3 counter spaces. The first space holds the microwave, the coffee pot and the paper towels. I've been able to keep up with that space and fulfilled my desire to have nothing sitting on top of the microwave. I don't like the cluttered look of using the top of the microwave as a storage space. Then there's my sink. After my sink is the next counter space. This holds my glass sugar canister, the butter dish, the salt shaker and the toaster oven. This, I've been able to keep up, but it's the main work station, so it gets a lot of use, and sometimes becomes a catchall for dirty dishes and recyclables. Overall, I keep up on it fairly well. Then there's my stove. After that is the 3rd counter top. This is the bain of my existance. I'm having a hard t...