Friday Afternoon Musings

 I spent the morning cleaning out the linen cupboard.  Whenever we move into a house, stuff just kind of gets tossed in there, by the time I get the kitchen cupboards and wardrobes done etc.  Because we tend to move every six to twelve months the linen never really gets sorted.  I got rid of most of the small towels, put them out in the laundry for dog and spill towels.  Chucked out old sheets, some from when Kate had a single bed!  I packed all the Winter sheets away.  I always used to do this, as well as with Winter clothes, until I met Phill and he decided for some reason that it wasn't necessary so we'd have a cluttered and messy linen cupboard all year round.  We have plenty of storage here.  I wiped down all the shelves and sprayed them with Glen20, lined the shelves the sheets sit on and now it's all clean, tidy and with room to spare. 
I realised that because we got Em's new bed in Winter she has no king single size Summer sheets.  I was so glad when I found my old Sheridan sheets from our old double bed.  I'd never had really good sheets before but soon after we got them in a sale we got our new queen size bed and I've never had the heart to get rid of them.  I can use them now on Em's bed till I can get her some new ones.  There was also a near new pair of double bed sheets that were Kate's.
I even threw out tablecloths that I'd had for years for sentimental reasons but I can't remember why, or who they belonged to.  Got rid of tattered doylies and table runners and old hand towels.  2011 is going to be the year to restock the house with new pieces of furniture, ie a new bed for Josh and a much needed tv unit, and linens and lamps.  I will not wear perfume, or undies that I don't absolutely love.  Got rid of the last of the daggy knickers and my last bottle of dodgy Chloe that I got ripped off buying on Ebay. 

Emily has a habit of taking my stuff.  Sometimes because she wants it, sometimes just to spite me when we're at odds.  I am terrible when it comes to spending money on myself, a habit I intend to modify.  I buy the cheap supermarket brand makeup, and it doesn't really bother me, it does the job.  But a few months back I went crazy and bought some really nice Revlon mineral powder makeup, and some blush.  They both mysteriously disappeared and while I knew Em had taken them she wouldn't admit it and I couldn't find them anywhere.  Yesterday I had run out of my usual makeup and was forced to use some that I had bought without my glasses and got a shade too dark.  It made me look like I had pigmentosis or something.  I was considering spending $18 that we didn't really have to get the right shade and feeling guilty when I went into the bathroom and saw my Revlon makeup sitting in the (open of course) cupboard where Em had foolishly left it before she went to school.  SCORE!!  It still has enough left in it to last me till next week.  It is so much nicer than my usual makeup, and I'm going to replace it with the same and hang the expense. (It only cost me about $30 mind you).  I didn't say anything to Emily, and another search failed to turn up the blusher, or my new glasses case, or my garnet ring that has also gone missing.  But small wins make me happy these days.  I left my dark makeup in my drawer and hid the other one in case she slips by me and gets into my makeup drawer. 
We were at the library on Wednesday, and a dvd that Phill wanted to borrow wouldn't work on the automatic book check out thingy so I went to the counter and handed the woman my card.  She looked at the computer and said "Princess Bitch Face".  Pardon?  I was a bit taken aback until I realised it was a book about teenage girls I had borrowed that I owed an overdue fine on.  Thought I'd blown my cover.  I am still chuckling at that.
I think I'll do the wall unit in the kitchen next, there is a lot of miscellaneous crap that just gets tossed in there.  Then I might start on the kitchen and reorganise.  I started putting down contact on all the shelves and drawers when we first moved in but I need to finish that.  They're daggy old unfinished wooden surfaces.  If I just do one big job each day I'll have it done by the time the kids break up for the year and we can start making the house look Christmassy.  I'm getting into the mood now I'm feeling more like me again.  It will be very simple foodwise, a whole turkey, albeit a little one, of course but with traditional stuffings, sage and breadcrumbs for one end and a pork and veal one for the other.  Josh asked me to make the Sweet Potato Casserole recipe I made last year.  It was an American recipe I got from somebody I am no longer in touch with, but when I did a search it wasn't all that special anyway, there are a million recipes with the same ingredients.  It's just sweet potato, butter (lots of it!), brown sugar, vanilla and pecan nuts.  Soo unhealthy but he loved it and it's only Christmas Day once a year.  Seafood, sauces, salads and a nice dessert and that will do us.
It still hasn't rained and I got really daring and hung out another load.  It might even dry.  Who knows?  I live dangerously.
Phill is asleep ahead of a night shift and I just answered his phone to the bloke he will be "relieving" tonight.  That is such an unfortunate term I think.  Or is that just me?
Come 3.30 pm Emily will have completed ONE FULL WEEK of school.  All day for five whole days.  A miracle for which she will be rewarded with an Itunes card.  I'll have to think of something for Josh too.
I got out a bag of Christmas bits and pieces yesterday to see what I had.  I found a packet of  tissue paper with "Seasons Greetings" in gold on it that I bought at Christmas 1998 to wrap home made shortbread in.  Every year I look at it but never seem to need it.  It has been sealed but the seal has come undone a bit and I got it out but it smells a bit musty so I don't think I could wrap food in it now.  I think I'll keep it anyway, kind of as a museum piece.  I did find a much newer packet of red tissue when I cleaned the linen cupboard that is properly sealed.  Score two!
I also found a pack of Christmas cards that I bought in the New Year sales but then couldn't find come Christmas that year.  They turned up after I'd already bought and sent another pack.  They were charity ones too, for Breast Cancer research.  I won't send them but I can't throw them out either.
I hope my American blogger friends are resting easy after their Thanksgiving feasts.  What a lovely holiday, we don't really have anything like it here. 
I found two bags of odd socks which explains why there are so many odd socks.  Most of them no longer fit the kids, that's how long they've been separated.