the end of the day...

Whew! Busy day! I didn't get much sleep last night, so, now, I AM POOPED! It was so windy yesterday, well, for at least 24 hours until around 6 this morning, that our woodstove was blowing smoke back into the house. It was horrible. Stoopid me, not knowing what was going on, put a piece of wood on the fire before I went to bed about 12:30 a.m. Wrong thing to do....with the wind blowing so hard...at least 55mph gusts and it was high sustained winds, too...and the chimney needing to be cleaned, the house was filling up with smoke...so thick you could see it.
I turned the ceiling fans on in both the living room and the dining room and I cracked the kitchen window to help draw it out. My throat hurt and my eyes burned...hubby slept through it all. I was almost afraid to go to bed, but, I finally did about 3:30. I could tell what was going on and the fire was starting to die down, by then, so, I figured it was safe to go to bed. All I could think of was how was all that smoke going to mess the house up....and my clean carpet!!! crap! I closed the bedroom door (which I never do at night....that bugs me to sleep behind a closed door) and put my earplugs in. When I got up at 8:30, it still smelled like smoke. UGH


Hubby got up on the roof about 2, when the snow had melted off the metal roof (we had gotten just a skiff), and cleaned the chimney. Can you see the mound of soot that came out of the pipes? That's usually what we get out of it--hubby cleans it about 3 times a season, and really, the stove hadn't been acting like it wasn't drawing right before all that wind. And, that glass door-I had cleaned it yesterday afternoon, before I built the fire. I love my woodstove, but, I would have gladly gotten rid of it last night!
I made bacon and eggs for breakfast, and did laundry all morning. Then, we went outside and picked up the things the wind had blown around. The garland and bows on my fence were all messed up, too. Later, when we came in, I started dragging out my Christmas decorations and hubby brought the tree in for me. It might be the last year for that big ole thing, altho, the kids will be unhappy about that. Jeffrey wants me to do my big decorating for Jenneva this year. I don't really mind doing it...now, that I have the majority of my housecleaning done. I just wish I could have gotten an earlier start on it, to enjoy it more/longer. I usually start taking everthing down January 1.

I'm starting to get those overwhelming holiday emotions. I just keep telling myself how I can kick back after the holidays, for awhile. Like so many others, I do have to fight off a bit of depression and anxiety over all the things to do. I hate that! I want so much to just feel the peace and joy over the real reason we are doing all of this in the first place! As a woman, there are just so many things that only you can do for your family to 'make' the holiday. (As well as all the other holidays and birthdays!) I do feel a bit of satisfaction this year, tho, that Jeffrey wants to show Jenneva a Christmas at our house. It sort of tickled me when he asked if I was going to decorate 'big' like I usually do. Sometimes, it's easy to feel like they all just take it for granted or appease me doing it.
Weatherman is still calling for back to back winter storms, so, I'm hoping we do get snow!
I told hubby I'm feeling like a pansy...then, I showed him this picture I snapped. HA! I love the snow, and so does this pansy! What a little bit of happiness right there!
I guess I'll go finish up the little bit of yarn I have left on the baby afghan and get my butt to bed.
count your blessings...

SherryBee