Lists?

I love lists.  I think I'd be totally lost without them.  I've got all sorts... Lists of big things and little things. Lists with goals, ideas, and dreams. Lists of movies to order for our nightly Netflix fix. Lists of lists. Lists of books I'd like to read. They are in notebooks, on the computer, on the backs of envelopes, the blank sides of junk mail.... nothing that has a blank spot on it is safe from being sucked into service.

 And we can't forget the To Do List.  That one is tricky. Things on the To Do List move alot.  Some come and go often while others don't seem to move much at all. I hate those.  They are my reminders that there was a reason they made it to the To Do List in the first place!  Marking something off a list makes me feel great.  I know it's done and then I can move on.  I don't know why but I like seeing things crossed off a list. Even better than that is to be able to toss one in the trash.

So, since we are once again being spanked by WildBlue Sucks for exceeding our bandwidth limits I find that I'd rather be getting something done rather than wait  for slower than dial-up speeds to load a page. It's annoying at best.  So with winter here it  seems to be a good time to get all those annoying things that have been on my "To Do" list for awhile.  You know....stuff like cleaning behind the freezer, cleaning out the fridge, generally trying to take back my house from the dust bunnies.  They may be winning....

I've started on my first crocheted afghan.  A dear friend sent me a box of yarn she'd found at a yard sale this summer. (Thank you MissB!)  I'll have to take pictures when there's actually something to show you. My grandmother used to crochet all the time and she tried to teach us girls.  I never really was interested back then.  So since I can't go get Gran to show me how anymore I decided to teach myself. The internet is a great place to learn.  I've made a couple of hats that came out all right so I figured since I had all this yarn I would try working an afghan.  I'm still knitting a little too.  I've got a scarf on the needles right now.  I found a really cool pattern for some kitchen curtains that I'd love to try to work.  Of course I don't have the yarn for that yet. It's on one of the lists I have around here. 

I also guess I have a confession to make.  My Mom and my s-Dad sent Mars a Kindle Fire for Christmas.  He didn't really seem very interested in it. Something about "real books" he said.  I said to myself "Self?"  Self said "Huh?"  "That sure is a cool gift and I sure hate not seeing it being used".  So I started messing around with it.  I've had a Kindle reader on my computer for awhile so I had at least an idea of where to start.  Well, I think I'm hooked now.  I've read more in the past week than I have in the past three months.  I just love it. Of course we don't have wi-fi here at the house since the router took a dive last year.  That kind of cuts out using the net on it here at the house. BUT when I go into town I just hop on a wi-fi connection and download what I want.  Pretty cool! 

Mars is working on an idea for a smallish greenhouse.  It would be awesome to have a place to start seeds that really need a head start in the spring.  I'd like to be able to start ALL our own tomato and peppers this year.  It didn't really work out as well as I had hoped last year. I ended up buying some plants to supplement the ones that didn't really make it.  They just needed more light I think.  Anyway, a greenhouse will be an awesome addition around here.  The hardest part will be to figure out how to heat it.  I'm leaving all that to Mars.

So that's about it around here this past week or so.  I've been doing a bunch of baking. Cookies, cakes, breads.... I love this time of year because its not to hot to bake!!  I've been thinking about pulling out the big ol' pot and making a batch of spaghetti sauce to can.  Mars really isn't wild about spaghetti sauce but I love it.  So I was thinking that since I still have all those tomato's in the freezer I might just whip up a potful and then can them in pint jars.  That way I could have a quick lunch or dinner if I wanted.  Toss on some pasta and open a jar.  Yep... I just might have to do that.