Hasn't this year gone by at lightening speed? Reminds me of the old song... "and the days dwindle down to a precious few..."

I'm behind my usual time for doing my newsletters - have 2 out of the 3 still to do. But they'll get done with no problem, I know.

One of the email lists I'm on for those homeschooling one is starting to pick up some traffic and that's been fun getting to know others on the same journey.

I guess I need to stop procratinating and just get to work, huh? LOL I'll be back...

'Tis the season.... A week and a half.... 10 days...

Although one Christmas celebration will be held day after tomorrow with my husband's family.... Still waiting on a couple of presents to be delivered... may have to just wrap their images and give that, letting them know that when they arrive, they will be mailed post haste.

I am not ready. Have Christmas cards, but they are far from ready to mail... started my Christmas letter today to put in the cards, and it's not ready yet.... I'm in charge of the Christmas dinner with my dad - having a small family is a totally different way of looking at "family feast times."  There will only be my dad, my menfolk (husband & son), and me. No gigantic 20+ pound turkey for us... a 10-12 pounder usually does it for us, although this year we may go for a sprial-cut ham instead from the restaurant Red, Hot, & Blue. My husband and I haven't had a chance to talk much about gift(s) for my son... He's told me what he has in mind, so we'll see if it's from both of us, or what else I might pick up... I've already gotten him a large alarm clock and a flashlight that you put over your one ear (from Radio Shack).

Well, I'm really "treading water" these days with my housekeeping... but it didn't take overnight to get this way, so I have to be patient with myself, as long as I can try and accomplish even a small step every day... Guess I need to go back to FlyLady a bit and see it that might help me. Baby steps... take baby steps.... Thankfully my husband is a dear and very supportive of me.

Not much going on...  so back to my Christmas letter! LOL

After only last night's antibiotic dosages (and now this morning's), I'm feeling much better. I have a sinus infection, not strep, which is a PTL also. I'm still croaky and my throat is still sore & scratchy, but it's not excruciatingly sore as it was before, so the antibiotic is working!

After we got home (dearest dh took the day off, a rareity, to take me to the doc), got a call and our car was found. (Saturday - not sure why it took til Monday late afternoon to contact us... but... .oh well...) It was trashed inside (as in rummaged about, with no damage to seats and such). It will cost us $1,000+/- when all said and done -- cost $300 to get it out of the impound lot, then another $50 for towing to our mechanics (our towing thing paid for the first $100), then we'll have to get the steering column fixed/replaced, the driver window replaced, and the battery charged back up (or replaced). My dh says we should be able to sell it easier fixed and although we won't get much past that $1,000, we might get just a bit to help with us getting the next car... and of course I don't know how long we'll be driving it (once it is fixed).... but we're at least on the look out now.

I'm glad to be feeling so much better and know that my health should only be improving now with the continued use & finishing of the antibiotic.

I have a doctor's appt. this afternoon. I think it's strep but we'll see.

Our car was stolen Wednesday last week. (leaving us with only the husband's motorcycle)

For 2+ weeks I didn't have a sink (only sink we have is a utility sink in the bathroom that also does double-duty as the kitchen sink) because of a leaky trap - dishwasher started giving us problems a month ago; so washing dishes in the bathtub... Dh fixed it Friday.

For 2 weeks we've not had any hot water - a leak under the house going out from the water heater. Dh fixed it Saturday and after letting it cure, we had hot water again last night.

Even so, I can heartily and confidently say, "I know Whom I have believed in, and am persuaded that He is able..."  As in Timothy 1:12 and an old hymn....

We had a friend lend us their mini-van while they are out of town, so my menfolk were able to make it to church yesterday. And we have that vehicle for him to take me to the doctor this afternoon.

Today I hear from my dh that we'll have a visit by the pastor to give us some funds to help pay for the stuff that was stolen. That's something out of the blue!

We had two plumbers out on Thursday and Friday to give us quotes on replacing the whole plumbinb system (quotes should be getting to us today or tomorrow). (With a 118+ year old house, maybe things are going to start happening in getting it refurbished to a liveable state downstairs!)

3-4 weeks ago, I chopped a head of cabbage... Evidently, I'm not used to that repetitive motion, and my right wrist has really given me problems. It was seemingly on the mend this past weekend, but was excruciatingly painful Tuesday of this week. It has gotten better all week. (Glad I have a wrist brace! It's not really carpal tunnel, since that's on the "inside" of the wrist, thumb and up the wrist; whereas this is the "outside" of the wrist with pain up into the middle & ring fingers thru the wrist and up a bit... ) Anyway, it's better and I'm exceedly thankful for that!

Before I get my day going, thought I'd update the blog and give you all something I picked up via an email.

Well, it's obvious that I have contact with a computer because I am finally updating my blog....  LOL I'm extremely grateful that my dh has a laptop for me to borrow... but boy do I miss my keyboard and a regular mouse!! My keyboard is an ergonomic one, where the keys are angled and separated in the middle.. Much easier to do a lot of typing....and I love my optical wireless mouse.... this one uses a finger on a touchpad.

It's already the end of September... the barest hint of Fall has pushed flowers up through the dry grass... My Oxblood lilies have bloomed... It may still be in the high 90s in north central Texas, but when the lilies bloom, it's a sign that fall really is around the corner. Might not happen for 2 to 6 weeks, yet, but cooler temps are coming!

My son is in New Mexico, along with my dad - since September 16th and will be getting home this weekend. I hurt my back last week, so wasn't able to do as much housework as I wanted and I have been slow-going this week, only because of that feeling of overwhelmedness, "Where to start?? Where to start??" I suspect I will be a busy camper the next couple of days so the house has more of a resemblance of order. My dad will probably stop here on his way to his home, so that parental eye will be looking me over....  LOL

My husband thinks the power supply went out.... so we shall see...

Well, time to get to the next thing on my list....

Donna C's Chosen Charities: Life Today and Project Noah

Other charities and Blog for Relief Bloggers may be found at

Truth Laid Bear's Blog for Relief Page.

For regular Katrina news and relief updates, see these sites: Michelle Malkin,Brenda Loy, and Donald Sensing.