Monday, Monday & freebie of Shopping Therapy

I am slowly getting a few things done around the house. Taking a break before that nasty, back breaking chore of cleaning bathrooms. Yuck!
I finished Anita Shreve's The Last Time They Met this weekend and can't stop thinking about it. https://www.amazon.com/Last-Time-They-Met-Novel-ebook/dp/B000SEJZ1S/ref=sr_1_15?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1501528706&sr=1-15&keywords=anita+shreve The novel is about a couple who meet 3 times and it works backwards from a meeting in their 50s, to one in their 20s, to their first meeting as teens. My battered copy (a thrift store find) contains a reader's guide for book clubs. I never look at those until after I finish reading and have my own thoughts about the novel. One of the questions asks about the ending and whether or not the reader anticipated it and caught the hints earlier on. I did and I didn't. Which is to say I knew what Linda's secret was and how it explained certain behaviors but I somehow missed the larger picture. Now I'm a serious student of literature so I'm surprised I hadn't figured out the ending. I thought back and sure, there were some oddities here and there but nothing that clearly fit together. I know I'm going to have to go right back and read it again. I do recommend it and suggest that if you find it a bit dry in the beginning, be patient and read on.

Today's zip:

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/qoq16cgjejahnx6/ws_ShoppingTherapy_6.zip?dl=0

I am frantically trying to put together the rest of this week's zips because tomorrow we will be picking up Larkin and keeping her the rest of the week. That Lil Princess (as her Papa calls her) needs lots of attention so I won't have much computer time until she goes to sleep. I've been contemplating ways to coax her into more reading sessions. My husband suggested that for every 30 minutes spent reading and/or working with phonetics cards, she would be allowed to watch 30 minutes of cartoons. (Seems she gets a steady diet of those at home and at her Aunt's house.) I also remembered the can of peanuts on the coffee table. Larkin likes peanuts so if I get desperate to have her read, I'll put a small paper cup on the table and tell her for every word she can read, she will get a peanut in her cup. Does that sound awful? I'm not used to children who don't like to read. Her oldest brother, the one who is heading off to college, loved books at a very early age as did my son. I wish I could figure out why she doesn't like to read. I'm wondering if she has been embarrassed in reading group at school because the other children have gotten more instruction at home and do so much better? Thinking of other activities for her while here. Of course, there will be a special tea one day. She will find her new toy trunk with a doll and extra outfit, 2 Dr. Seuss books, and a kit of little babies (kind of like Shopkins). Of course, we will also have to play with Play Dough and maybe try to teach her Uno. If the weather isn'
t too awful, we might try taking her to the Virginia Beach Aquarium. Fun, fun, fun.

Saturday? Sorry I missed posting yesterday

Husband's oral surgery went well yesterday. We had gotten up so early to get there for earliest appointment that when we got home and he fell asleep in his recliner, I slept too. Weather has been rainy - all day today - and I have been having sinus problems. Feels like the Eustachian tube behind left ear is stopped up and it has been painful today. But hubby's keyboard broke early this morning so I went out in pouring rain to find the one he saw on Walmart on-line. Went by and picked up Dad's mail, went to both Norfolk Walmarts and couldn't find the keyboard he wanted. He'd said not to buy a more expensive one. I went ahead and bought Larkin's backpack because after looking at the cartoon type she'd likely pick and seeing how poorly they were made, I decided 2 things: don't feel up to taking her shopping this week and I'd buy a sturdier pack. Also picked up a couple Dr. Seuss books for us to read when she is here and a teen type doll and extra outfit to put in the toy box I got for her. She needs some stuff to keep here to play with. Then there were leggings on sale and a cute unicorn top for her too. No more Larkin shopping for awhile.

Came in drenched. Going to try a little facial sauna to open my sinuses - just some steaming water in a deep bowl with a few drops of lavender essential oil (not only smells great but has antibiotic properties) and a couple dried bay leaves (also for scent and detoxification), Hood up with a towel and relax while breathing in the steam. Good for skin too.

Anyway, I've got 2 zips of Shopping Therapy for you tonight:

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/syt8gaam0iws25s/ws_ShoppingTherapy_4.zip?dl=0

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/rcptjmffk46jqd2/ws_ShoppingTherapy_5.zip?dl=0
Enjoy!

Thursday already and another freebie

Bought the last two items for Larkin's school supplies today and found a sturdy tote to put it all in. The only thing left is to take her shopping to pick out a bookbag. Hubby went for his pre_surgery consult this morning and, miracle of miracles, the cost of having a tooth extracted under anesthesia went down from two years ago! He couldn't even think about having an extraction done with just novacaine. And no dentist wants to deal with him coming up out of the chair because he's in pain. We will go take care of this first thing in the morning, then he will sleep most of the day. I might be able to get some tings done that are difficult to do while he's up and around.

Today, zip 3:

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/dn57iz5w6xc9qd8/ws_ShoppingTherapy_3.zip?dl=0

Quick post & a pink freebie today

Trying to get a few things done as we might pick up Larkin this weekend and keep her for a few days. Picked up almost all of her school supplies yesterday but will take her shopping to pick out a bookbag.

Today we have some of the pink side of Shopping Therapy:

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/uz13emoouvlkmw2/ws_ShoppingTherapy_2.zip?dl=0

Sorry no post today

Was out in the heat most of the day and I'm not feeling well. Didn't do preview last night so will skip for the day.

Running late but new freebie

Long day. Got surrender check on Dad's policy and was disappointed to find it under $4,000. That sure won't go far. If lucky, it might pay for repair of his hearing aid - if it can be repaired. His audiologist is one of the most caring people I've ever met. I spoke with her today, planning to set up another appointment to take him in. But first she wanted to know all about how he was doing (he's known her longer than twenty years) and where he is now. She said she will go to him! Possibly Wednesday evening at earliest. She will go ahead and make another mold of his ear in case he has to order a new hearing aid, but will also check to see if it can be repaired since it appears all the electronics are there.

Dad was quick to have me notice that his ankles weren't swollen but his abdomen is still very distended. I spoke with his nurse before I left and she updated me on lab tests and x-ray that had been done. They lowered the Lasix dose back to where it was, but x-ray showed small amount of fluid around his heart. He will see the nurse practitioner tomorrow.

My husband, already a good cook, has been watching the Food Network and getting inspired to create new dishes. Saturday, he decided to try making an Alfredo sauce from scratch. Usually I resort to Bertollini jarred Alfredo sauce because my husband prefers red sauces, or as they say, gravy. He put his sauce over bow tie pasta. It was so good! I had some of the leftovers tonight and was amazed at how well it reheated. Tomorrow he has promised to make pepper steak, another dish he makes better than I do.

So next kit colors are:

I couldn't think of a good name, so went with Shopping Therapy. I know a lot of ladies who go looking for a new outfit, or shoes, or accessories when they want a lift, want to pamper themselves. Funny thing, hubby saw the folder labeled Shopping Therapy on my desktop and asked what it was, saying quickly, "No, you don't do that. That was [his first wife]s thing!" Years after they had been divorced and after we married, Ms X, was still running up charge card bills and had the audacity to have the bills sent to our address when their son was living with us. He got to mail before we got home and would take the bills to her on his weekends there. That is, until I came home early with a migraine and found a red notice from Bloomingdale's in the mailbox with her new married name and our address! Needless to say, there were fireworks. There's more to the story and it just gets crazier.

But back to new kit. I happened upon a designer resource by Daelman's Designs that was so cute, I had to have it. In part because it featured one of my favorite colors. So the idea for this kit was born. Here is your first zip:

I've left the pieces she designed with her original file labels.
Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/gudyvu9xgjqn6z7/ws_ShoppingTherapy_1.zip?dl=0

Last of Little Sailors freebie

Nothing especially newsworthy happening here. Heat has soared and going outside is asking to be miserable. I'm now into day 5 of the 21 day meditation challenge called Desire & Destiny from Chopra Center. Is it helping my stress level? Maybe, sure isn't hurting. If you would like to learn to meditate for all its benefits, sign up at Chopra Center to be alerted to next challenge.

This is it for Little Sailors:

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/mf6bvus6yeqp4r7/ws_LittleSailors_23.zip?dl=0

Hope you have enjoyed the kit and weren't too turned off by my digression into mental health issues.