Hm, long time again....

Funny how time flies by like that.... I mean, I keep planning to post - I even come up with ideas, such as random thoughts like how duct tape is pourous.... and why I know that. But then, I'm on the puter in the wee hours of the morning, then the gk's show up, then I forget about posting...then, I think of it, but either I have to get ready to go to work after the kids leave, or I try to catch up on emails, then next thing I know it is noon, and I have other things I should be doing, like dishes or errands or housework, or some such stuffs. So, I never really get around to posting.

I'm glad that I'm planning some house renovations. Some will come sooner than others. I've never had a faucet erode before. Sure, the tap part - spigot, or the part that you hold onto to turn water on or off might leak, or a washer need replacing to stop a drip. But the spout part - the part where the water comes out - never had a problem with that before. Oh, OK, yeah - that part can spring leaks at the base, where it pivots over the pipe - again, a washer or o-ring needing fixing. And the open end of the spout, where the little screen piece is, that you can take off to replace with a hose - yeah, that sometimes needs work. But for the piece between those two ends to sprout holes - now *that* was/is a new experience. So, next time I go shopping, I need to remember to run to the hardware store and pick up a new one. In the meantime, I had a rag tied around the holes, so that instead of spraying all over the kitchen whenever I turned on the water, it only drips into the sink. (oh, and at least it only leaks when the water is turned on, too....) Anyway, thought that since I was doing a dinner party, that I'd make it look a little neater by wrapping it with duct tape. Looked nice - all silver, though not shiny - but water came out from all over the place!!! So, I rewrapped it with a rag.

One of the reasons I haven't done any painting is the dinner party. I've done it, and blogged about it, in the past. I like to do a full, from scratch, Chinese food dinner, and invite a guest or two, for my birthday. Well, since I was hitting one of those "big" numbers - not just big because it is higher (yes, the definition of birthdays kind of imply each one is bigger than the last one) but also because it is one of those milestone types - I went and invited 9 people. So that meant, 11 people in my little ol' 900 or so square foot house.... Well, fortunately (or unfortunately, really) two people couldn't make it. I do/did truly miss them. But in hindsight - there wouldn't have been room....

So - this year, I made (from scratch - literally everything - even the chicken stock that was the base for some soups and sauces was fresh out of the stockpot last Monday):

Egg rolls, Plum sauce, Hot and Sour soup, Wonton soup, chicken balls, pineapple sweet and sour sauce, beef stir fry, curry sauce, squid stir fry, white rice, shrimp fried rice, lemon chicken, lions head meatballs, sweet and sour ribs, deep fried shrimp, shrimp sauce (cocktail sauce), and fortune cookies.

Everything from scratch.... even grated the horseradish for the shrimp sauce!!

So. I've made it to fifty. Seems to me, that people used to make a big deal about fifty - that it was "over the hill", that it was a signal to the end of some quality of life or other. Yet, I don't feel those things. I feel like my life is just getting started. Ok, so, in some ways it is. I've been through a lot of changes over the last several years. The next several years will be very interesting. I'm quite looking forward to where my life is, and where it is going. I'm especially looking forward to the changes I'm going to make to my house - I can hardly wait to start painting :)

I promise - before and after pictures. Warts and all.... Meaning, of course, that the current state of some of the rooms - clutter especially - will not be hidden. One of the wisdoms that comes with age... I am who I am - and I shouldn't be ashamed. I should only be ashamed if I am content to stagnate - not to learn and grow. In other words, yeah, OK, I'm a packrat. I have stuff. I will always have stuff. I have no intention of tossing all of my stuff. But, I realize I have excess, and I have things I've outgrown one way or another. So, I shall continue to grow and move forward, and dispose of the things that no longer have a place in my life.

Well, then, on that note.... I do have some things to accomplish today. And, I guess I should take the before pic of my bedroom - the room I plan to start with.

And for the past...well, the closer I get to Feb. 7, the harder some things are.... For an obsessive cat person, I sure do miss a certain little doggie.....