What a Day!!

A day for the record books..indeed!
.......

My Cowboy came home this afternoon and couldn't decide

if he had made a wrong turn somehow and was lost?

...or if he had acquired himself a new wife,
 and just couldn't remember when!!

.

It all began at about 7 am..... .
.

I was quietly minding my own business,
as I certainly have no one else's business I could get into ....
.
...just staring out into the bleak winter scape...

when I had this urge! 
.. 

No! not to pee...
.

The urge to do something productive today!
I've not had any urges to speak of, for quite some time.
.
It came like a bolt of lightning striking me!
.
I need to get busy on "The Project"
 that our soon to be daughter-in-law requested...
several months back!
.
Seeing as how it has taken Chad far too long to find "The Right" gal,
I don't want to jeopardize that relationship by not fulfilling my promise to her.
.
(Nor do I want her to think badly of me....so soon!)
.
I have about 50 days to complete and get mailed off,
for her to get it framed...
....before he returns from his deployment in the mid-east!
.
.
So........
.

I gulped down my 2nd cup of coffee, which I NEVER do;

I threw on my duds and walked into my drawing room.
 .

Danged!
.
@!*>~* 
(actually...I said Shit!)
.

What a mess!
.

I can't work in here when everything is in such disarray!
Heck, I can't even see my table,
 let alone sit in my chair! 
.

I gathered my wits....
I tidied it up, organized my different elements,
and stashed some unnecessary items.....
.


...almost clean enough to see

 .
.

Next thing I knew~

I was cleaning one of the spare bedrooms
 just to stash~ my stash!
.

Once having completed that mess,
I found that I desperately needed to burn some papers.
(why?  I asked myself should I trudge out to the burn barrel,
when I can burn in the fireplace?)
.
But first....
I decided it was essential that I clean one of the fireplaces.
(Only one needed to be cleaned,  as I only burn candles in the other!)
.
.

I don't know when I cleaned this last...
certainly not this past year and half...
.
Goodness! Gracious! Great Balls of Fire!
.
T'was full of ashes, creosoted glass doors....
...and let me affirm...
Yes... still hot with embers!
.
.

Ok....no problemo....we have a steel wheelbarrow!
.
Grrrr....(and a few more @!*>~* words were blurted out)
.I had forged outdoors, mind you into a season I detest,
only to discover, it had a flat tire!
.
Ok...It's Ok...I hushed myself...
.
Not to worry...
just use one of the boxes I took from the spare room.
.
Which I did.
. 
I worked quickly...
.
"Hurry! Hurry!" I kept telling my stupid self.
.

(Even though I had lined it with foil, it was quite hot...
as I dragged it out the back door...

Hoping it would not catch on fire before I got there
and then hoping it would rain....

or
Cowboy would get home to move it before it caught the house on fire!)
.

All is gooooooood.
.
I did not need to call 911.
.
Except...that in my rush to not set me or the house on fire...

I made a HUGE mess in front of the fireplace,
I'm covered in soot....
and so is everything in the room!
.

"Better change my duds....."
.
I say to self...
.
" and you may as well do the laundry while you are at it!"
"You just put on your last pair of clean jeans!"
.
(7! yes SEVEN loads...and I have a heavy duty oversize machine..
...and there is only 2 of us! What does that tell ya??)
.
.
Ok...Get back to what you were doing...
You can multi-task like a champion,
so get at it!
Daylight is a burnin'
.

.

After having swept and mopped up the soot, the ash residue...

I stood there, stretching the muscles that have been languishing far too long,

I could not help but notice that the picture hanging on the brick wall,

 sure could use a good cleaning!

.

Now the glass shines!

.

.

And that one!
.
.
That one too!

Look! No more dust!

And another!
 And another...
.

Upon realizing that I was making a bigger mess around the house as I went,

I had to have a chat with myself,
.
"Why don't you just plum clean the whole danged house?"
.
And in the midst of dusting, vacuuming, scrubbing,
cobweb hunting, and laundering~
.
of course there was the dust bunny round up too!....
(Oh...did I mention how surprised my hubby was when he sat down to watch TV tonight?
 He hollers "Hey Honey....my eyes got better today!!"

......I had another revelation!
.

Why not bake a cake?
. 
I haven't made a cake in a bazillion years!
.


Is that obvious by the date?

. (it just so happens to be the only box I had in the cupboard
and I was NOT into making one from scratch today...
I had too many other things to do!)
.

So, Chocolate it shall be!
.
..(which doesn't hurt my feelings, as I believe nothing is more worthy for dessert than anything chocolate!)

I do not care for frosting, so I sprinkled with powdered sugar

.
.
I say to myself ...
as the cake enters the oven...
.
"Yo Barb! since you are already making a mess in the kitchen,
why don't you make a royal mess?"

"A royal dinner!"
. 

"Lasagna!"

"And make two pans while you are at it....

so you can fool the hubby some other day...

he will think you worked this hard again!"

.

I haven't made Lasagna in~~ who knows how long!

.

Note the date!

BUT...
.
.
.

Ta Dah!

.

One's in the freezer for fooling the hubby at a later date...

and this one is for tonight!

.

Don't always be too fooled by dates on products either!

 I'm not one to throw things out,

and both Lasagna and Chocolate cake were perfecto!

.

.

.

We actually sat at the dining room table tonight,

with a real dinner before us!

It was nice!

If a stranger whould have appeared,

they might have thought this was a special occasion...

.

and for me..

.

it

.

was!

.

Today.... I was ME!

. 

(These past two+ years, dinner consists mainly of sitting at the bar,

eating a quick, unplanned, concoction thrown together...

ones I could not replicate if my life depended on it!)

.

.

....and then....

.

I happened to glance up and what did I see?

" @!*>~*  "

 I had forgotten the ceiling fan!

.

Oh well.....I wasn't going to let a dusty ol' ceiling fan ruin my day!

.

There is always next time.

And hopefully, next time comes along sooner than it did this time!

.

.

.

Now....

.

 

After a very, very productive day,

not at all what I had set out to accomplish 11 hours prior....

.

It's time to plunk this W.O.W.'s butt down....

.

.

.

See? I even have sox on tonight!

.

.

.

 

It is time to relax

 (maybe that should say recuperate..)

.
.


and say "Hoorah!" "I did it!"

.


.
But....instead....

 

I'm going to say

 

SYRAH!!

.

.

and another....

SYRAH!

 Cowboy Wife