Quick Takes Volume 59

~1~

I feel like I've reached an impasse with my attempt to declutter the house.  I want to get rid of a lot of our stuff, but I am finding that a lot of the clutter is stuff that we need.  How did this happen?  And why do we have so much stuff?  I'm going to do my best during Lent to pare down more of our belongings. There's no way we really "need" all of this stuff.

~2~

I feel frazzled this week.  Madeline had half days three days this week and was off from school today.  Ellie's school has been on it's regular schedule, so you can well imagine that I have heard complaining that it's not fair that one of them was in school all day every day while another child was complaining that she was bored.  Katie seemed to run hot and cold with the mix up in her usual routine.  On one hand she enjoyed getting to play with Madeline, but on the other she had so much fun playing that she got really cranky since she spent a few afternoons too wound up to nap.  I feel exhausted.

~3~

Bryan and I decided that we will give up dining out and take-out for Lent.  Last year we gave up cheese and that was rough, but I suspect this might be equally challenging for us.  We plan to eat out a few times between now and Tuesday since we won't be seeing the inside of a restaurant until Easter Monday at the earliest...well, maybe we'll eat out on February 22nd to celebrate the Chair of Saint Peter since it is a solemnity.

~4~

We might get hit with snow this weekend.  I'm hoping that we're on the low end of the predicted snow so we don't wind up stuck in the house for the weekend.

~5~

This morning was frustrating with getting Ellie ready for school.  I don't know what was going on with her this morning, but I suspect she didn't want to get ready for school because Madeline was off.  It was a very stressful eighty minute ordeal.

~6~

Once the blessed yellow school bus picked her up, the mood in our house became a lot lighter.  Madeline celebrated that she could hang out in her pjs for a little while and Bryan decided to hop on Mystery and go for a little ride.

~7~

Bryan and I have been giving my old popcorn popper a workout this week.  He's back to seriously watching what he eats and was looking for a low calorie snack.  So I suggested we break out my awesome air popper that I've had since I was in high school (poor little thing is practically an antique with it's 90's style lettering).  It's funny watching Bryan react to the popper as it start shooting him with popcorn and hot kernels.  He'll get the hang of it.  You just have to get used to the machine's little quirks.  The dog is loving it because it shoots popcorn out onto the floor.