December! Linda’s Nightmare before Christmas!LOL!

    • Anonymous
      December 3, 2008 at 8:47 am

      Day two of December! Well Day 1 of December I had to deal with Cujo the Dog. Yesterday.. I had another scary day! My Christmas so far is starting out with a bang! Or should I say Fire! Yes FIRE! LOL!
      It was freezing cold yesterday and I had to be at the hospital yesterday for my second Rituxan treatment. This time it was not as bad as the first. I think last week I had a bad nurse. This nurse was good and the treatment went well! But they gave me the tylenol with codiene too before the treatment and the benedryl. Had to be there at 7:45 and did not get home until about 3 in the afternoon. Well! My fire in my fireplace needed to be started. Never burn a fire when I am not home.
      Andy bought a case of firelogs and I decided to try one out. But there was already a log in the fireplace that did not finish burning from that night. Got the fire started and that fire log started blazing. I mean blazing! Huge blazing fire! They are supposed to burn 3 hours.
      Hmm! I didn’t like this fire! It was getting out of hand and was really high flames and blazing. ๐Ÿ˜€ I got so scared that I grabbed a pot of water and slowly opened up the glass doors but not all the way and slung that water in my fireplace to calm the fire down! It slowed a bit but then when the water dried up 5 mnutes later I had a huge massive burning fire again! Ohh dear! So I get another pot of water a sling it again in the fireplace.
      For 3 hours yesterday I was babysitting my fireplace with pots of water sitting beside me! Learned me lesson and learned it well! I will never use another fire log like that again! They are good for large fireplaces but small ones, I strongly urge they never be used unless you wish to babysit fire!
      But it did warm my house up! This morning I decided since they burn so well I took a huge butcher knife and sliced off a small piece and placed it in the fireplace. Just a tiny piece! It caught my fire and I used no newspaper! So I will use that dangerous fire logs as started pieces instead. A small chunk here and small chunk there. Hmm! Will save on burning paper and the case should last all winter long!
      Now I am starting on December 3! Wonder what today’s fate will bring me!

    • Anonymous
      December 3, 2008 at 11:42 am

      I can imagine how scary that fire must have been. Do you have a fire extingisher you could have used if it would have gotten out of hand?

      Glad your next treatment went better. See, we told you so ๐Ÿ˜€ You’ll probably feel puny for a while. I still do today 9 days later – or maybe it’s a little bit of a cold. Who knows.

    • Anonymous
      December 3, 2008 at 11:50 am

      yikes…be careful with that fire ! We have two fireplaces in our new house..havent used em yet. your story scares me.

      Norb…I just got a bit teary. When you said, “you’ll feel a bit puny”…My Mom always said puny when it came to how she felt. Just a memory…I’ve never heard anyone else say that. ๐Ÿ˜‰

      Linda- be careful.

      Stacey

    • Anonymous
      December 3, 2008 at 8:21 pm

      Andy bought one Norb and had it in the den and moved it on me where I could not find it anywhere. He placed it in his music room in the closet. That sure did me good. Did not have time looking for it either!
      Stacey! Don’t be afraid of burning wood in a fireplace! I have been doing it for years. But never tried those logs that you buy at Lowes and Walmart.
      We have a fireplace insert with a blower that blows out heat and circulates in the house. Love it!
      I never burn more than 2 logs at a time. When one log is almost burned I place a new one in and move the old one in the back. Always have a fire extinguisher handy just in case it gets out of hand. Something my husband did wrong was placing it in a spot not telling me he moved it. Bad bad Andy!
      Keep a fire hearth rug in front of the mantle to catch any sparks that could burn carpet. I normally open only one door on one side and leave the other shut so sparks won’t go flying out. Once you learn how to build a fire in that fireplace, you will get addicted and enjoy having it around in the winter months.
      All day today my electric heat has been turned off. That fireplace heats my whole house except the bedrooms where I close the doors because nobody is in them. The electric heats turns back on at bedtime. First thing in the morning, I start my fire again. And it burns all day until bedtime. In January, February and March the coldest months we have, I burn a kerosene heater and the fireplace during the day. It sure saves on our electric bills.
      Back in the summer, I tried making a Solar Heat Panel and wanted to try my experiment out before making others. You take a piece of foam board. Super glue copper pennies two inches apart on the foam. Spray paint the inside black. Make sides where it has wide slits on the sides. Just like you are making a box but to the size of your bottom part of the window. Outer part you glue fabric to make it look like a window cover and is decorative. Place on bottom window and you get heat from the sun’s rays coming into your house. Wished I would have made more! For my experiment actually worked and does very well.
      Next year I plan on making several to go in my windows that reflects sun. It blows warm air into your room. Just like having radiator heat but not using any feuls. All natural heat from the sun. Next winter I plan on making 5 more and placing them in my windows during the winter time for next year.
      I am the type if I can get a few dollars saved I would rather save them. Hate giving the electric company my money for heating. And electric heat is not cheap!

    • Anonymous
      December 3, 2008 at 9:09 pm

      Hmm! Think I better go hide! ROFL! Andy got some wood from outside and brought it in the house with our wood dollie! Well while he was stacking up the wood box he asked me to take the two pieces of wood he had in his hands! So we could put them in the fireplace. Well the first one I grabbed I was able to hold on too!
      ๐Ÿ˜€ ๐Ÿ˜€ ๐Ÿ˜€ The second piece kind of slipped. And it landed on my husbands foot! ROFL! Uhh ohh! He hollowed real loud and took his shoe off and yep! There’s an ugly knot sitting on top of his foot!
      ROFL! I had to have a good excuse for why it slipped. Told him I couldn’t help it if I had nerve damage in my hands. Gosh! This is when nerve damage comes in handy! Any other time I would be complaining about this nasty nerve damage. Not tonight! LOL!
      My poor Andy hobbled to the bedroom to get ready for bed. Think I will sleep on the den sofa tonight! Don’t think it’s broken but it sure put a goose egg on his foot.
      I think December is going to be rather interesting month. Wonder what tomorrow will bring!

    • Anonymous
      December 4, 2008 at 7:58 am

      ๐Ÿ˜€ ๐Ÿ˜€ ๐Ÿ˜€ Not me today! But poor hubby had his fate of bad luck! He stumped his pinky toe on our fireplace hearth.
      Same foot that had the log dropped on! ROFL!
      He just left for work and has a good old limp now!
      Me! I’m being careful today!
      Only thing I am having a problem with is itching from Rituxan today! That stuff gives me itching hives. But so far December 4th is being nice to me today!
      Hmmm! I am in the mood for a Christmas CD! So I think I will listen to some music! While trying to clean some! Hugs! 21 more days before Christmas! Yeahhh! Well better go check my lottery ticket! Am I a millionare today! Probably NOT! LOL! Hugs

    • Anonymous
      December 5, 2008 at 8:10 am

      Well! Today is December 5th! Friday and payday for my husband! He gets paid and gives me his check! ๐Ÿ˜€ ๐Ÿ˜€ ๐Ÿ˜€ Then I write out the bills that need to be paid this week and the rest goes into savings! So he actually does not give me his entire check. I do allow him to keep some of his check so he will have some play money during the week.

      Hubby thinks we are poor. But does not know I have been banking money into our accounts all these years. And some of our bills I pay, I add extra money to the bill giving us a credit. Making the next months bill cheaper.
      He still thinks we have a house payment! I guess if I die before him he will be in for a shock! Because I paid our house off last year!

      I got a settlement check from the guys insurance company last year which was not as much as I really wanted but took 3/4’s of that check and paid the house off. Then told my husband I got screwed with the settlement check.
      He is still giving me house payment money each month and that goes towards the bills and in the bank for savings.

      The more we save the better off we will be! This summer I bought an upright freezer but already have a small chest freezer. One freezer is full of chickens and I have 4 turkeys in there, 3 big hams and several large packs of spare ribs. Bags of ice!

      My refrigerator freezer holds TV dinners for when I don’t feel like cooking. Big upright freezer is loaded with fresh garden vegetables and fruits. Plus more meats! And I canned several pickles and jellies!

      We actually have enough food in my house to last us all winter and part of the summer. Only things I buy now is stuff that needs replacing. Dairy products and cat foods.
      I have 15 bottles of shampoo in our bathrooms, 30 bars of soap. For months now I have been buying extra items. Last year when the gas prices were killing us, I saw this recession coming and decided to stock up just in case something bad happened. Glad I did what I did.
      Even ordered extra wood for our fireplace. I have enough heating wood to last 3 winters. Not to mention the 7 cans of kerosene that will be used in January, February and March!

      Even my RX Medications are in a large quanity. I have a linen closet loaded with my meds. I’m the type if I don’t need a pill that day I don’t take it! It took me a long time getting used to Gabapentin. The 3 a day. I could only take one. And would quit and then start back again. But kept getting it filled. So I have 5 huge bottles packed with them! Guess I have a pharmacy in my own home!

      Guess it is a parent thing. My parents lived in the depression days and boy were they always preparing for a rainy day and saying times could get bad again. My mom taught me how to freeze and can.
      Many years back my husband got laid off from work and boy was that tough. I had to do without my medications for a long time. So after that I learned to hoard a stock just in case it happened again. No way I could do without my meds today.
      My husband is very worried about his job right now. He works for a car dealership and is an auto mechanic there. It goes under it will kill him! But he does not realize that I saw it coming and does not even know how much I have been preparing for that time if it comes. One thing he will worry about the most is our house payment!
      When that time comes if it does, then I will let him know the house is paid for! LOL!
      Well today $75.00 got thrown in the bank for savings money! Won’t get touched either!
      Wishing you all a nice day! Me! Have laundry, dinner, bathroom to clean and hallway to clean! Hugs
      Linda H