More ice storm

This one will be remembered.

ICE STORM

Wow is it scary. Northern Arkansas calls it their worst ice

storm ever. Going out to the mailbox you think you hear

everyone shooting off guns - in reality it is tree limbs crashing

down - yikes!

Working Outside in January - woohoo!

Right now it's 56 degrees! Worked some thing morning outside to
get a jump on spring cleanup. Cut down the old peppermint and cleaned
out the north bed of that - and raked and burned it all. Hauled wood ash
to a couple more garden beds. And picked up some limbs on the north
side of the property. Go me!

Nice quiet day - ah!

Went out this morning shopping :)
Had lunch at the CC with Mr. Lock an Load.
Came home, walked dogs, watching a bit of the
inauguration stuff. Have chicken and veggies in the
crock pot for dinner. ps not going to buy the house,
instead going to remodel here. Pic taken last weekend,

when we were going out for mexican (hooray). Instead

we went out for chinese (boo). Mexican this next

weekend (hooray).

Making an offer on a house

....granted it will be low ball.
The house is interesting. HUGE! 3600 sf or something
like that? 4 br and 3.5 baths. Well if you count a toilet
as a half bath, let me explain. Off of the family room there
is a door, open the door and it is a narrow small room, to
the right is another door that leads to the garage - to the
left is a toilet. :) The house needs some work, but nothing
major that we've found yet. We haven't checked the well
for instance, or the furnace and a/c. The soffitt and faschia
needs work, the windows are old, lots of painting. Some
minor stuff here and there, electrical is a mess. Flooring is
all good that we noticed, basement dry and crack free - no
signs of it ever having water problems. Cool bathroom in
the basement! Neat that it has a master bath off of the
bedroom. Cost of heating with propane would be a nightmare.

Cleaning and Hello Neighbor

Cleaning today - cleaned five rooms very thoroughly -
the bathroom, hallway, 3 bedrooms. Also doing lots
of laundry - clothes, bedding, dog blanket. I'm pooped
and will tackle the kitchen, dining and living rooms
tomorrow! The breezeway can just clean itself :)

In other news looks like we have new neighbors - a
moving van parked up to the house next door, albeit
for just a few minutes. Now a car is there that has
been there several times in the past. I think they're
20's people - maybe college kids? I hope their next
stop is to get their muffler fixed!

Sometimes a fantasy should stay just that

Ever have a fantasy come true? I have, some totally and
some partially. It's not always a good thing. Sometimes
it doesn't always end the way your dreams did. We all have
to take some chances and risks in our lives or life would be
very dull. Just be careful what you wish for!

What's happening

Let's get to happier things.

We're back to house hunting. I found four or five
last night for Mr. L&L to check out. He'll narrow
them down then if there's anything worth checking
out we'll go see them as a family. Looking for a bigger
house, not huge but bigger. Preferably with a basement.
Doubt we want one in town as utilities and taxes are
so much higher.

The housing market is such we wouldn't sell this place
right away. We'd rent it out - 3 to 5 year plan and
hopefully the market will stabilize and improve by then.
We are fortunate we wouldn't have to sell, I'm not
sure we'd be looking right now if we did.

And it's cold as a you know what out there. Wind chill 21
with a temp of 33. That's cold for me, I turn into a whiny
butt whenever the temp falls below 60, lightweight that I am.
Supposedly arctic air moving in for this next week. If you
can believe or trust a weatherman that is.

2009 NY Resolution

I went over a week w/o a NY Resolution.
I don't usually make them. But I know what it is now.
To ditch all the dead weight people in my life. The
people that pretend to be your friend but aren't really.
The type of person that makes a big deal about all they
do for you, when in actuality they do nothing or just manage
to screw you up more than you already are. They never
apologize when they do anything wrong, but are quick to
point out your faults. The type of person that is very quick
to lean on you when something goes wrong in their life, but
when something is wrong in yours they tend to hide.
And lies. It took me 45 years to figure out that minor lies
on the part of a 'friend' are a sure sign of trouble. Watch out.
These type of friends want all the rules to be theirs, and make
no concession for what you want or need. They aren't really
your friend. They just say they are.

It's best to break it totally off. Cold turkey. Yes we learned to
depend on them emotionally (stupid people that we are) but
if we don't break it totally off there will just be more heartbreak
and hurt down the road. The road is long and hard enough
without asking for more trouble.

But it's still sad.