More Household News

So I have just been taking care of interesting household tasks lately, while also trying in vain to fit in book reviews. The household tasks have been many.

As an aside, I chose this beautiful vase on the left as a prize in Suzie the Foodie's drawing last month. I won a $100 gift certificate in her giveaway and I decided that instead of choosing something to cook with that may not get much use (sorry, Suzie..I know you understand) I'd instead get a pitcher/vase. We have gorgeous roses in our rose garden and this would be a lovely more formal type vase to hold them. Throughout the summer I have fragrant roses in my house! The vase was out of stock so I've been waiting for it, and it finally came in! Thank you, Suzie and CSN Stores. I eagerly await it.

I finally finished the initial application for my Brazil trip visa this fall, thanks to my hard-working assistant Sylvia, plus some help from LoveHubbie, as well as our relatives in Brazil. We all worked together this week to finish things up. This was great.

Also our refrigerator broke and so, with the assistance of the appliance repairman, we had to haul it outside for several days to defrost so that he could fix it. We now have the refrigerator back in place again, and hopefully it will work long term. It will be nice to have ice for the hot days again.

Monday night LoveHubbie decided we'd get heating and air conditioning installed in our house. We have been thinking about this for a few years, but suddenly and unexpectedly decided to take the plunge. We've had no central air conditioning (just a little window a/c in our bedroom) all along here, and in the winter we've just used a wood stove for heat--no furnace. When the power goes out, as it often does, we have a small gasoline powered generator that LoveHubbie fires up and keeps pouring gas. Summers feel pretty hot here and winters are not just cold, but involve lots of hauling of wood, plus sooty residue, soot-stained walls and ceilings, poor air quality, and power outages at unpredictable times. So we're getting an entire system of furnace, air conditioning, generator, and a propane tank. I can hardly believe it! Two days hasn't been enough time to adjust to the good news and the big changes. A crew is coming tomorrow and they're going to get it done fast--in only four days! My head is spinning from how different my life will be.

Yesterday I went to LoveHubbie's office and gave the employees a presentation on their new health insurance. Our old plan was discontinued. Now we pay much more for far less benefits. We have the best plan available in our area, but even so, I think it is substandard, and much less than we had before. Health insurance is the only product I can think of that stays in business by offering less and less every year for more and more money. And the insurance companies continue to show large profits even in this economy.

I'd love to have some profound thoughts to share with you, or something exciting to write about. Instead, it's just pretty mundane household stuff. I will plan for some more interesting posts :) Although, honestly, I'm really, really excited to live independently of the weather. It's something I used to take for granted, but not anymore.

~The photo of the building is actually our barn, not our house, taken by LoveHubbie. I thought I'd post the more rustic looking barn to be...funny :)