Monday Afternoon

I have a large pot of lentil soup cooking on the stove as I type... plus the dishwasher is doing its thing. I've already been grocery shopping, gone to the cleaners, and I spent part of this morning boxing up items that sold on eBay earlier this afternoon. I haven't practiced piano yet, and I'm seriously behind with last week's lesson. Haven't exercised yet, so I will do that while I watch Oprah this afternoon. Can't miss the exercising. That is a must-do, six days out of seven.

My husband just walked in the door looking for a late lunch, Gracie is waiting for a walk, and every couple of minutes, I have to go inside and get ShadowBaby away from Rusty. This must be one of the days when ShadowBaby wants to play "King Cat" around here, because if he isn't going after Rusty, he's going after AngelBoy (who is now out in the backyard sitting on the grass underneath the bird-feeder).

Today is one of those days when I wish there were more hours in a day. Or just less things to do in a day's hours. I had too many auctions ending on eBay today, and they ended less than half an hour after I walked into the house with the groceries. So that was my fault-- not paying attention to the ending times of the auctions. What on earth was I thinking? Looking back to last week, I probably just wanted to list as many items as I could today because I won't be listing anything for a while. With the holidays coming up, I don't want to be bothered with eBay.

The workers who installed our new shower will be back here this Wednesday morning. They will be taking down our dining room chandelier and putting up the chandelier that was in Gary's mom's dining room up in New York. It's been sitting in its box in our garage since the moving truck brought it down in June, along with other things from mom's house. I hadn't wanted anyone to touch it until I found someone I could trust to put it up for us. Thankfully, the contractor who coordinated all the workers for the bathroom also has other workers who can do everything else in a house. So that will be on the schedule for Wednesday.

When the dining room chandelier comes down, they will put the one that's now in the dining room up in my sitting room. The one that's now in my sitting room will come down and I may sell it on eBay. Musical chandeliers. I love the one that's in our dining room now, and I don't want to part with it. I had found it years ago at a yard sale. Only $20, and it's gorgeous. My husband had to take it apart and clean it and put it back together, but he enjoyed the project. That chandelier will look wonderful in my sitting room because it's very Victorian. The one that's here now is less ornate.... still pretty, but not very Victorian. It also was a yard sale find at only ten or fifteen dollars.

We have Gary's mom's dining room set in our dining room now. It also came on the moving truck this past summer. I know that having her chandelier over that table will mean a lot to my husband. Especially that it will be up for the holidays. There's something from Gary's mom's home in every room, and that makes us both feel good. She passed away in February. Some days, it feels like yesterday. Other days, it feels like forever.

Time to get back into the kitchen. The lentil soup needs stirring. The dishwasher is about ready to be emptied. My husband has gone back to work. Gracie is sound asleep and will wait till after Oprah for her walk (she knows the routine). Rusty and ShadowBaby are sleeping, and I'm sure that AngelBoy is waiting by the screen-porch door to come back inside.

More hours in a day. That's what I'd like today. This is one of those days when I have to laugh at people who ask me: "So-- what do you do all day long?"