{ Cold day, and some warm soup }

There is this constant howling that permeates the house.  You can hear it through the walls, and especially loud through the fireplace, because you see, that crazy strong wind from yesterday?  

It's still here.

I think it leaves tomorrow, or at least that's what I hope.  It can give my poor lungs a break from the allergy induced asthma.  Goodness!

Jasmine was off work today.  I know it seems weird, but she works retail and they all get two and sometimes three days off a week.  The pay is great, the benefits are great, and she absolutely loves all her coworkers, so it's a win win situation.

She hasn't gone for her driver's license test yet, because my car has been acting very strange, we think the timing chain may be off and will have to be replaced.  It means over $1000 repair cost, and so for the moment, my mechanic brother (the one in South Africa), has been keeping an eye on it, asking me questions, telling me what to do and basically just letting me use the car as I can until I can get the money to send it in for repairs.

All this to say, I don't let Jasmine drive it, because if that timing chain breaks, you need an experienced driver in the seat and I would hate to have something happen to the car engine while she's driving.  Poor girl would get the fright of her life.

In the meantime, she drives a little here and there just around town, but she wants to practice more and then go for the test.  That's why it's been a bit delayed.

 

But we're making do for now.  What matters is staying safe right?

 

Anyway, she is off today, but she is in Dallas with her boyfriend.  He had a whole day planned for them for Valentine's Day.  Don't tell anyone I said this, but this might just be the *one*.  Shhhhh!!!

 

I was able to stay home all day, indoors, with the heaters on, under warm blankets in between my usual chores, and just staying out of that horrid bitter cold.  It's one of those days, you know the ones where you're inside but your nose is freezing cold?  Yes like that!!!

 

I am ever so thankful for these really warm and gorgeous socks, that my sister in law gave me for Christmas.  They've kept me quite toasty today.

The first thing I did this morning though, was have a cup of tea, and this time I tried the Autumnal Fae.

It was just as delicious as the one from yesterday.  This one is very Fall like which I enjoy, and my favorite tea is black tea too.

If you want to try this one for yourself, go to Dryad Tea and get some Autumnal Fae.

Ingredients: Black tea, oolong, calendula, apple, rosehips, orange pieces, hibiscus, cinnamon, natural flavors.

 

I don't know if anyone else does this, but when I meal plan, I look at the weather forecast for the next 10 days. If there are cold days, or rain or snow in the forecast, I try to plan accordingly.  Since I knew today was going to be the coldest this week, I made sure to add soup to the menu.

 

So first thing this morning, I got that going before I tended to the rest of the house. 

Then the usual, folding laundry, tidying up, dishes, dusting and vacuuming, and anything else that needs doing.  Now that the kids are grown up, my housework gets done quite quickly, which frees up the rest of my day.  It's good in a way because it let's me do whatever else I want to, whether it's a project around the house, reading, watching a show or enjoying some crochet time. 

But there are days that I do get a bit antsy, and start missing the days when my children were little, and keeping me busy from the minute I woke up until late into the night.

I believe that is just a normal part of life, of different chapters, of things changing, and we all go through those moments.  We just have to not let that completely overwhelm us or get us stuck in that feeling.  It's ok to feel, it's ok to reminisce, and sometimes wish time would go back, but we also have to remember to thank God for the blessing of each day and year that goes by.

So I just embrace each day, and instead focus on doing things I enjoy.  For example, lately I have been really enjoying collecting classics, like Little Women. 

It's such a beautiful copy, and I love the illustrations inside.  

 

Next, I rechecked my meal plan, wrote up the grocery list and did an inventory check of what I already had on hand.

Once everything I needed doing, was done, I settled in with Elliott next to me, to continue reading my current book.

He loves curling up next to me on the bed, or going under the blanket and laying either on my legs or up against my legs, to sleep.  I don't know how animals do it, I can't have my head covered by anything because I feel like I can't breathe Hahahah

Soon as I finish this current read, I will have achieved my goal for February, which is two books, and it keeps me right on track with my reading goal for 2022.

The afternoon quickly sped by, and before I knew it, dinner was upon us.  Thankfully I had the soup in the crockpot and all I had to do was finish it off.  It was just perfect for this cold day.  It was warm, it was comforting, it was delicious and filling.

And I'll have the recipe for you on the food blog tomorrow. 

Oh and speaking of the food blog, I put up the recipe for the Salmon Croquettes, if anyone is interested in trying them.  

It is just after 7pm, I am going to try and find something to watch real quick, and if nothing peaks my interest, I will try to finish off my book so that I can move on to the next one.

I also need to set up my Alexa Echo for the night.  I guess I'll just tell you about that right now, I almost forgot that I've been wanting to mention.  It's been helping me, and I thought that if anyone else out there is suffering with insomnia or struggles to stay asleep.

When I was little, my favorite way to sleep would be when I could hear everyone still awake.  I would make sure I went to bed early, I used to be so scared of the dark and did not want to fall asleep with everyone else already asleep.  So I would climb into bed around 8, and then I would let the lull of the voices in the house drift me off to sleep.

At other times, I would have a radio playing very softly, something that I did as well when Jasmine was first born.  The first two weeks, this child did not want to sleep at all unless I was rocking her in my arms or singing.  I was so exhausted and I needed to figure out a way to make her sleep without me having to be there constantly at her side.  I guess she also liked background noise.

Curt and I started keeping the radio playing really softly all night long.  We actually used to set it to the radio station that played the Delilah show.  Oh my goodness, that just brought back memories.  Did any of you listen to Delilah on the radio too?  She used to do the song request show late at night.  

Anyway, that's a conversation for another day, I need to stay on track here.  

Last week, I don't know why it came to me, but I thought, now that I have the Alexa Echo, on my nightstand, maybe I could just do the same thing and it may just help me sleep.

The first two nights, I asked Alexa to play a praise and worship radio station.  I turned the volume down to where we could hear it, but it wasn't blaring at night.  I slept like a rock, all night long.

Then I learned that you can have Alexa play Sleep sounds all night.  So now, I have her play either Rainforest, or light rain or thunderstorm.  I ask her to set a sleep timer for 8 hours, and she plays that sound for the next 8 hours then stops playing.

This has been life changing.  I am telling you, I haven't slept this well in years.  YEARS!!!

You can also have Alexa play white noise, or any other sound that relaxes you.  Give it a try, and see if it works for you as well.

Ok, now I think I've babbled on long enough.  I better get on out of here.  I think I'm going to watch and episode of Monsters Inside:  The 24 Faces of Billy Mulligan, on Netflix, then get some sleep.  I have to get Jasmine to work in the morning and then head to the commissary for grocery shopping.

I haven't been in person grocery shopping in about two months, so I'm quite excited to get back in there.  Let me know if you want to see what I get, the prices, and all that fun stuff.

Have a great night everyone!