So, yesterday was Thanksgiving, with all the traditional Thanksgiving activities, including a huge holiday dinner with all of Russ’ family, and then afterwards coming home and having another huge meal of leftovers. We didn’t do any exercise, we just watched TV, and at one point I took a nap. It’s a holiday! That’s what holidays are for!
But today was a “Bonus Day!” A day when we didn’t have to go to work, and we didn’t have to prepare food, or travel, or even go out of the house. Today was a day to stay home and not have to do anything except whatever we wanted to do. And in my case, that mostly means puttering around the house.
I love our house. I’m just sad that I don’t always get to spend a whole lot of time here, because I’m always off at work. Squee and the Whimsies spend more time here than Russ and I do. It’s their world, we just live in it. Sometimes. But today, we got to live here all day long, and it was glorious!
First I started the day with some basic housework, like running a few loads of laundry, doing some leftover dishes. Meant to vacuum as well, but never got around to it. Oh well…but I did bake a cake! It was a “maple” cake, with cream cheese icing. The icing was delicious, but the cake actually seemed a little dry. That was sort of a disappointment.
But here’s something that was not a disappointment: my new curtains! Wednesday on my lunchbreak I treated myself to a visit to the Thrift Store. I got three pairs of Whimsie pants, which they’ll soon be modeling on their website, and also two panels of a very pretty curtain. They’re sheers, but with delicate large roses. Is this shabby chic, or simply “Grandma Curtains”? A sign that I’m extremely stylish…or that I’m getting to be an old lady? Doesn’t matter. I gave them a good bath in Woolite, then hung them up on the backyard clothesline to dry. It was such a cool, clear day, they dried up in no time at all, and I took them in the house and hung them up in the front room.
I love the way my new curtains look in the front room. They’re so sheer, I’m hoping I can keep them closed all the time, and there will still be enough light getting through to the Jade plant. The Christmas Cactus had previously been here in the front room, hanging out with Jade, but I moved him recently, back to the kitchen table, and oh! by the way, this morning I saw the first signs that he’s thinking about putting out some blooms!
At one point during the day I also had a chance to “Play Spices,” which is one of my favorite relaxing activities. I like to play with spices much the way children love to play in a sandbox. I’m always trying to make the collection more manageable. Today I took everything out and discovered that I have 32 different spices, in all kinds of bottles, and some of them are quite old. So I went online to google “Best way to store spices” and learned some things I should have known before, but didn’t. For instance, did you know spices should be stored in a dark, dry place, away from light, air, heat and moisture? 
The traditional spice rack, with glass bottles exposed to light is not a good way to store spices. Tins are better. But…good luck finding spice tins that are anywhere near what could be considered “affordable”! I saw these round, flowered tins online, and they’re beautiful, but they are WAY more than I’m willing to pay!
We have a deep drawer in the kitchen that will accommodate all the spices, and as my wise husband pointed out, as long as the spices are kept in the drawer, in closed containers, they won’t be exposed to light, air, heat or moisture, so it doesn’t really matter if they containers are see-through or not. So, we now have a plan to find a certain kind of container that will affordable and convenient. I won’t say more here. If this works out, I’ll do an entire post about the subject, because I’ll be so delighted to have solved the problem in an intelligent and economical way.
Going on, we also spent a good portion of this day watching the Arkansas/Missouri college football game, which determined which team will be going to the SEC Championship game next week: Missouri. I would say “which team WE will be playing in the SEC Championship game next week,” but I won’t jinx anything until tomorrow night at this time, when we’ll know whether or not Alabama has won the Iron Bowl. Alabama is favored, and it’s looking pretty good, but as I say…not to jinx…
I froze some fresh cranberries, and some kale, to add to my Nutribullet morning shakes. Russ recorded some of the Aerial America’s off our DVR, and our collection is now more complete than it has been, though still lacking several states. Hopefully we will get those over the next year or so. We’ve come up with a plan: starting in the new year, we’re going to watch one Aerial America episode a week. There are 52 weeks in a year, and 50 states in the United States. In about a year, we can say we’ve traveled the entire county. By air. Pretty cool, huh? Not as cool as actually traveling the entire country, but at least this should give us an idea of what destinations we might like to choose for a vacation. And not only that, but I’m sure we’ll learn lots and lots about the USA by watching these episodes.
I ordered a new “scratchy post” from Wal Mart for Squee, and also some new headphones for myself from Amazon. They were originally $99, but now on sale for $23.50. What a deal! Russ and I don’t do “Black Friday”—in fact, we have studiously avoided going to any stores today, preferring to avoid the maddening crowds. But I still got a good Black Friday deal.
Well, wait. That’s not exactly true about avoiding the stores. We went out to dinner (as we always do on Friday evening) and afterwards I asked Russ if we could stop at the Dollar Store, to search for those spice bottles. Didn’t find any bottles, but did find this pack of calendars. Two calendars for $1.00! The big one, with beautiful garden pictures will hang on the wall in my office. The little one, with colorful birds, will hang on the bulletin board by the garage door.
Oh! And one more thing! Also had a chance to pull out the Christmas “stuff,” and hang the stockings by the chimney with care. I have a tiny aluminum tree that I’ll set up where the lava lamp usually sits. 
Some cool Christmas cups too. And a string of garland that appears to be 50 feet long! Not really sure how to use that! Put a huge red ribbon on the mailbox post, the wreath on the front door, and tomorrow night we’ll throw the “web” of Christmas lights over the bushes in the front of the house.
But that’s for tomorrow, the first day of the regular weekend, which comes after this Bonus Day. I wish every month had a Bonus Day. What a great opportunity to get caught up on a few things, and simply enjoy the house.
