Have you ever had a chore that just gets shuffled from one to-do list to another? Something that needs to be fixed or put away or thrown away, but you never to get to it. “Maybe tomorrow,” you say. But tomorrow never comes. And by the by, you don’t even notice anymore when you jiggle the handle of the pesky toilet. Or automatically bump your hip against that drawer that sticks when you come to shut it. Well, you’re not alone. Charlie got inspired. Not to do his chore, but to write a poem about not doing it. I’ll Get To It One Of These Days  There’s a nail head that catches my shovel, it …

I thought I’d bring you up to date with my journey. In case you missed it, I was diagnosed with breast cancer at the beginning of December. For more on that, check out this blog.  It turned out, I only have to do 21 radiation treatments, so I’m already halfway through! I have to go the Cancer Free Center (as I call it) five days a week for my treatment. So door to door, we’re talking about an hour out of my day. Not too bad. My biggest challenge so far is not pigging out on the Lindt balls they have in reception. I usually try to stay with the hard candy and Tootsie Roll …

January is almost done, thank goodness. My decluttering is kind of stalled, though, because I’ve done all the easy stuff, and all that’s left are big things like tacking my craft room or the catch all closet. But, it’s hard to get motivated. Frankly, I’m kind of overwhelmed just thinking about it. Caitlin, my niece and guru for all things new age-y, says to me the other day, “Aunt Ida, some animals hyphenate for the winter. Maybe we should take our cue from them, and slow down a little. You know, enjoy it.” We were having lunch down to the Busy Bee, and I was tucking into the special of the day: baked macaroni and …

We were hanging out with our niece Caitlin and her boyfriend, Adam, last week. It was a typical January day, cold and blustery, with an occasionally flurry thrown in for good measure. But it was warm inside, and we were having breakfast for supper. This is something we used to do all the time when we Caitlin was little and we were babysitting. French toast and bacon were on the menu. Caitlin and Adam are vegetarian, so they usually bring along some veggie bacon for me to cook up for them. Personally, I don’t get the point for veggie bacon. It just seems kind of unnatural. But we humor ‘em. Could have knock me over …

Okay, my buckaroos, we are just about halfway through January. It’s a long, cold month, a good time for hunkering down, using the hell out of your slow cooker, and enjoying the beauty of sunlight on snow (from inside your cozy house). It’s so bright it almost hurts your eyes, right? It’s hard to get psyched up to do your spring cleaning in January, though that would make more sense. Do it now, when you’re under house arrest because of the temps. Why save it for warmer weather? I’ll tell you why. It’s hard enough to keep up your morale when it’s cold and dark. Spring cleaning in January would just do me in. What …

“How’d you sleep?” Charlie asked me, as he does most mornings. This was a few weeks ago. “Oh, you know, got up every few hours to pee. The usual. ‘Til about 4:00. That’s when I made the mistake of thinking.” “Well, sweetheart, you have a lot on your mind.” “I don’t have a sleeping problem. I got a thinking problem.” “I hear you. Once we have a game plan, we’ll feel better.” “I think you’re right. It’s the not knowing that’s driving me nuts.” See, at the beginning of December, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I know! What a delightful holiday surprise, huh? Not only was I surprised, so was every doctor I dealt …

Charlie wrote this poem after our first snow. I saved it to share now because this is how I feel about New Year’s Day. Saved By the Bell Remember in school, them happy days when You were stuck in some class that just wouldn’t end? Some stupid subject you had to learn And after Teresa, it was your turn To stand up and somehow pretend that you cared Again you have managed to come unprepared You’re startin’ to sweat, you’re gonna get hell When ring-a-ding-ding! You’re saved by the bell Into the fall, one of my biggest peeves Is havin’ to deal with our acre of leaves Oak leaves and maple, pine needles, too Hours …

Christmas Eve, what did you leave out for Santa? Cookies? A sandwich? Chocolate? Or even better, what did you feed Santa’s reindeer? Carrots? Apples? When my friend Dot’s husband Tommy was a kid, they’d leave out dog food. I think is kind of weird. I mean, these reindeer are magical beings! They can fly, for God’s sake! One year, when Betty’s kids were small, they left out some cookies, a glass of milk. That night, Betty and Pat were so busy putting together a new train set, they forgot to put away Santa’s treat. The next morning, they discovered that the dog Daisy had eaten the cookies and spilled the milk. The glass and plate …

As many of you know, I just love yard sales. I love going to them and I love having them. Because the thing is, if you go to a lot of yard sales, you have to have a yard sale every once and a while to get rid of all the stuff you bought at the other yard sales. Yard sales bring back memories, some good and some not so good. Like last summer during our yard sale, I had a flashback to our worst Christmas ever. I am referring to Christmas 2000, the year of Big Mouth Billy Bass. You remember them, don’t you? That fish mounted on a plaque? It looks normal enough …

December is full swing, so I’m going to jump right in with a gift giving tip for you and your friends that is guaranteed to make Christmas shopping more fun. I’ve shared this before, but it bears repeating. You can read it here, or watch a video of it below.  The Women Who Run With the Moose (that’s me and my friends, Celeste, Rita, Betty, Dot and Shirley) have known each other since God was in diapers, so it may surprise you to learn that we do not exchange gifts at Christmas. Us girls take a more practical approach to gift giving. We call it the “Not-So-Secret Santa.” This is based on the Secret Santa …