Diary of a Homemaker's Week: Get It Done

 

Saturday:  We've had a lazy day at home.  I've read, caught up on emails, watched "The Croods" with John, made pizza, and read.  It's been a lovely restful day, just what we needed after our whirlwind last weekend and before the whirlwind that will be next weekend.

My biggest takeaway from this movie is the dad's admonition to "Don't ever stop being afraid."  Reminds me of how John and I were about our trip last week.  I'm so glad we got over being afraid and enjoyed ourselves.

Sunday:  It's been two weeks since we've been at church.  I avoid going at all costs on major holidays.  I prefer less crowded pre-holiday services like Good Friday Communion or Christmas Eve Candlelight service.  I also don't go on Mother's Day if I remember to skip it.  Just personal preference.

Of course last weekend we were in Florida.  We did listen to that service on the live feed on our way home.  But to go in and sit in service, see familiar and smiling faces, was just lovely.

After church, we drove over to Katie's.  She only lives about 10 minutes from the church.  I noted the door was open when we arrived.  I saw Caleb at the glass storm door.  I wish you could have heard the squeal that escaped him when he saw us pull into the yard.  It made us both smile.   We spent time with Taylor, Caleb, and Bella today and thoroughly enjoyed our visit with the family.  I took dinner along.  Everyone ate well and left little. I found the children picking bits off the leftover chicken, lol. 

On the way home, John stopped and bought us an ice cream sandwich.  It was lovely to eat ice cream on our way home.  The temperature was in the high 80s and ice cream suited the sunshine and blue skies.  

I'm going to go play in the kitchen for a little while. I want to make muffins and determine what we can have for supper tonight. I hope your Sunday has been as pleasant as my own.

Monday:  I'm taking a rest break.  I had a crud night due to some major reflux issues last night.  John kindly made breakfast and the bed. 

I blew off the back porch and noted that doing that small task made it look better.  I contemplated the rails and rafters and floor.  They are dirty and need a good cleaning.  I wasn't feeling that ambitious today.

A plant stand blew over on top of my Asiatic lilies.  I cleaned up the mess and found two pots of dead plants to pull out of that flower bed.  I walked along beside the house and decided to weed the huge iris bed about the Sweet Gum tree.  An industrious squirrel had apparently dug up a gladiolus bulb and planted it in that bed.  I left it.  Who am I to argue with a squirrel.  Perhaps that spot will be a good place for a blooming glad.  And if not, then no harm, no foul.

My legs felt like jelly by the time I'd finished that bit of weeding.  Absolute jelly.  Two weeks ago I weeded for hours and had no trouble at all.  Did the beach make me wobbly?  I sat on the back porch and admired the sunny morning, the cool breeze, the birds singing, and the iris blooming next to the shed.  And then I realized with a gasp that the trees behind the shed were no longer young saplings.  

They are true trees and even if they shed their leaves it's doubtful I shall ever again look across the field beyond them to the tree line on my brother's property.  I don't know why I'm surprised.  They've been growing now for more than 25 years.  It's much like being shocked that a friend's young children are now grown men and women.  

After I'd rested a few minutes, I walked out to the shed.  I found that the plant the Google app said was Monarda was no such thing  It's a beautiful Sweet William and it's wonderfully pretty. Once they begin to bloom they will keep it up well into fall.  One more plant that is worth the cost of seed.

I opened the door and was dismayed at the seeming chaos inside but I pulled things out of my way, got into the back corners, and started organizing.  After a half hour, I'd made a noticeable difference there.  All of the baby things are neatly stacked on one side.  I still want to move the barium barrel from the back towards the front.  I usually store my larger nutcrackers or the Christmas tree in that.  I swept out thousands of dead lady beetles and a pile of glitter and dirt.  

I must get busy once more.  There's housework to be done and meals to prepare. I've rested long enough for just now.

later:  I've just taken a late lunch break.  John has gone off to mow and I've been busy.  I got the kitchen cleaned up and the dishwasher unloaded.  Then I got a notebook and went to inventory my supplies in the bathroom.   I started an inventory notebook to try and keep better track of what we have.  I plan to do this through the house for every area where we might have stored something we've purchased and use often.  

That task took a good hour or more. I made lunch, and while I waited on things, I also worked ahead on supper. I stopped working when it was time to eat...but I'm not done for the day just yet.  I've more tasks to attend to.  A woman's work...and all that good stuff.

Tuesday: I spoke with Lily this morning.  Her travel plans are complicated.  She's flying into Orlando.  Sam is picking her up there.  Rather than stay in a hotel Lily wanted to know if they might stay here.  I assured her we'd be glad to host her and her friend who is traveling with her.  I worry that the girls will find it boring here in the country but they're only here for three days.  No one dies of boredom and with family visits and such, she's unlikely to have time to be too bored.

Today I've been steadily working on various little tasks.  And here it is now 5pm and John's asking what's for supper?  There's a question...What is for supper?  I used one meal Sunday night that I hadn't planned to use then, and didn't have items for another menu plan as I thought I did...So I'm two meals short on my plans. This week's meal plans have not gone well.

Wednesday:  Today I gave up.  

I have been trying to slog through the book, Jesus Through Medieval Eyes for weeks (months) now.  Parts of the book are interesting. Parts are just so much rhetoric related to the modern-day world that I was distracted from the author's subject matter about the portrayal of Christ in art and writings from the Middle Ages.  To be honest, I almost finished it.  I did.  I have less than two chapters to go but I just can't bring myself to continue with it.  

What I didn't give up on was my vision of a clean, neat home.  I painted and wore at least as much as I put on the items I was painting.  I don't know if I want to wear more paint this week.  

Sam and Millie stopped by this morning. He had a minor accident while he was working in the yard over the weekend and was hurt enough to stay abed.  John told me about it Monday evening but said that he seemed okay.  I meant to check in on him yesterday.  I'd already determined I was going over to visit him today, so I was glad to see him here this morning.  He said he was feeling much better and had plans to work in the yard again.  

I got a late start on work this morning with the visit.  John hauled the headboard from the guest room outdoors and I sat in the sun to do my painting.  Let me tell you all something.  It was hot.  And humid.  And it was warm enough outdoors that the AC came on well before noon today.  We are getting into the warming season here!  

Yesterday's breeze that blew about me as I sat resting on the back porch was warmer and had fewer cool undertones than any breeze we've had yet this year.  I will continue to work outdoors for as long as I can but my periods outdoors may be getting shorter and work relegated to the early morning, not the latter ones.  

Thursday: I had tentative plans for today which didn't work out.  I'm not complaining.  Days so often don't go as I'd planned.   We hadn't started work this morning when Katie texted me asking if they might come out to visit.  

I hung the pictures in the guest room and then asked John to put the headboard back in place.  I'm so glad I painted both frames and the bed black. The room looks lovely.  It's a much calmer, more sedate room now.  

I have dreams for that room but not until I find all the elements I want to use. For now, this is looking better. I will look for a mirror to hang above the sewing machine and get some furniture polish or wax to go on the sewing machine.  

I thought Caleb would love playing outdoors but he wasn't feeling it today.  He wanted all of us to go outdoors with him, and then he sat with us on the porch and didn't play at all.  He was afraid of a beetle that had wedged itself into a crevice on the porch floor.  John finally poked the bug and he fell through the crack entirely, but Caleb was still uneasy about him.  

He ate and ate while he was here.   Katie went into town to get a couple of items to round out our lunch.  The poor little boy came indoors just as upset as could be because "Mama didn't even wave goodbye..."  I reminded him that she'd TOLD him goodbye, told him she'd be right back and he'd said "Okay, bye!"  No solace for him until she returned.  Silly little boy.  After lunch, he picked up all the toys he'd brought out and they were about to leave.  As they were leaving he started crying in the car.  Katie said "You're just tired..." and he wailed, "I am too..."

John and I did nothing after that.  I replanned supper since we'd eaten my planned supper for lunch. I read a chapter in The Rosemary Tree and felt compelled to take a ten-minute nap before reading emails and trying to fight these grammar programs to make sensible sentences.  

I fussed about these programs last week.  I don't know how on earth I've written a legible word in the past 30 years of writing because according to these programs I haven't a clue how to write a proper sentence.  It's very frustrating to me.  I thought I'd found a way to turn it off but alas, no such luck.  

Friday:  We have been busy this morning and I think we're both ready for a spell of quiet work and rest.  Just our usual Friday cleaning went on but intensified because I actually made out my work plan for next week and while I didn't feel up to weeding or a session in the shed this morning, I was determined to make the morning work hard.  

John did three loads of clothes and vacuumed.  I stripped the bed right down to the mattress.  So he washed the mattress pad, winter blanket, etc.  I have put on the summer spread and shams decided to skip using the handsewn shams I'd been using, and took the velvet covers off the throw pillows.  

John wasn't the only busy one.  I've been steadily cleaning, making meals, planning weekend food, and all the usual tasks.  Truly, I am not yet finished.  There are floors to sweep, clothes to fold, and when the mattress pad and winter blanket are dry, I've got to pack them away and then clean up my closet which is destroyed since I emptied out the trunk to get to the summer stuff and the other mattress pad.

It's been a busy, pleasant week with a busier weekend ahead of us.  I hope that you and yours have something good in your plans to enjoy, even if it's just a good book or a movie.  

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Thrifty Thursday: Try Harder

 

Friday:  I was awake very early this morning.  Very early.  I decided to watch vlogs until John woke.  Several weeks ago I subscribed to a vlog I'd stumbled upon "Becoming a Farm Girl".  This young woman lives in a townhouse.  She grows vegetables on her balcony, cans and preserves, pickles and ferments, and stockpiles.  She doesn't raise her own meat or many of the foods she eats.  But she is most definitely living the homestead sort of life.  

I'm often hindered by what I can't do, but after listening to her I realize I can do what I can.  You can do what you can do.  We don't have to all look the same in our journey, or do the same things.  The important thing is to take the path that is available at the moment.

Coffee Chat: Just Chatting

 

I hadn't checked the USDA guidelines for food costs in the last few months.  I watched a See Mindy Mom vlog this past week and she mentioned that costs for her family based on the Low-cost chart was nearly $1000 a month for a family of five.  I looked at the proposed costs for a two-person household.  I'm budgeting lower than they suggest I could be spending, but only just barely less.  Good to know.  I've only used those guidelines to ensure I'm not thinking in governmental spending terms. I noted that the site has added a new budget line for Alaska and Hawaii, where food costs are higher than in the continental U.S. 

Do you routinely check that site to see how your spending falls in line?

One of the most fun challenges I've given myself is using the older items in the freezer and pantry.  I have not begun to dig in the cupboards, though now and then in a week I'll think of some item that I know is near or just past expiration that ought to be used.  We've eaten some really delicious meals, too.  

Here's what I've learned about myself during this challenge. I  want to 'save' items that I consider more expensive even if I did buy them on sale.  Even if they cost less than items I'd purchased at full price that I consider to be frugal meal choices, like chicken or ground beef.  Kind of silly of me.  So rather than enjoy the excellent bargain-priced cuts, I'll keep making what I consider to be the 'cheaper' foods.  The result of this push to use up the saved items that had gotten old, but were not, thankfully, freezer-burned is that for the past month, we've eaten what my Granny would have called, "High on the hog", which means essentially that we're getting the good stuff and not the offcuts.

Where the pantry is concerned, I find the reason I have expiring items is because I've bought things that others recommended as good pantry items...even though we don't generally use them!  A second thing I've done is grab things that were on a clearance shelf because they are typically more expensive items that were reduced to an affordable price...See a pattern there? Yeah, me too. 

The third flaw I've found in myself: saving odds and ends and never using them.  Just today John and I noted we had about six bags of chips open in the pantry.  I'll lay odds that six of those bags are down to the crumbles at the bottom but frugality demands I hang on to those bits that no one wants to eat.

Now I'm scrambling for recipes to use these items and vowing to not repurchase them. I overbought a few items (hello, tomato soup, jello, instant puddings...)    The pantry items demand I get far more creative in my cookery, not the freezer items.

But true confession time, as much as I've enjoyed this challenge to use up foods that have lingered too long, I'm also tired of it.  I want some of our favorite meals instead of being endlessly creative.  That said, I plan to stick with it a wee bit longer.  I think it's a good exercise

I played with our budget for the second quarter. Not one penny more income is coming into this household. We do not have fewer bills. It was just a matter of determining what we wanted from the money coming in.  I knew we needed to create a gas and maintenance budget for mowing.  I looked at each item of our budget and made some hard decisions about what we were spending and how we could trim them a bit more.  I made it work.  

Now it never fails that if I find a little room in the budget I'll also discover that a bill has gone up $10 a month or there's a new item that must be added and the wiggle is immediately gone but that's okay.    How nice to see it there and then go "Oh okay, I can take that from here..."  In my experience, budgets are never stagnant.  They seldom stay the same for three months at a time.

However, one of the bonuses of the recent budget work was the choice to set aside a monthly amount towards a trip to St. Augustine.  Technically we've been saving here and there since December, but now I'm concentrating on it harder.  And when that fund is sufficient I'll amp up gift/birthday savings so that we can tackle Christmas without incurring expense.  We'll be committed to these savings rather than fritter our money away.  

And no we're not cutting out things we enjoy either.  I'm still buying flowers.  We still have an entertainment budget.  John is very adamant that both of those remain.  And I'm learning to curb his enthusiasm for spending on this and that.  Mind you he's not selfishly spending.  John never spends money on himself. But the man thinks nothing of giving a child $20 for a bookfair or fundraise, buying me a $27 bag of coffee, or spending $12 on out-of-season strawberries.  The trouble is that he never buys those things out of his pocket.  He hands me the receipt and I'm left to figure out where that bit is coming from.  I'm reminding him more often, "That doesn't fit in the budget and if we get it, we'll have to cut out something else, perhaps even something we need."

The yard at present is looking so pretty.  I've tons of Iris blooming in far more colors than I realized I'd had.  I have the white heirloom iris from Debbie, the golden yellow from Grandmother, a deep purple that I'm fairly sure was from Granny's as well as a pinkish-toned one, then a two-toned purple that I think I got from Mama's former next door neighbor and finally a dirty yellow looking one that Mama had shoved in a pot.  I have a maroon-colored iris from Angela that I am waiting to see if it blooms this year.  I can't quite remember exactly where I planted them, but I know they are somewhere around the Gingko tree.

This morning, as we were leaving home, I told John that I would have to divide my iris again.  This is something that is a continual thing.  Iris here multiplies quickly.  I said, "Perhaps I'll put some around that Chinaberry tree there in the middle of the yard and my husband shocked me.  "I think they'd be just beautiful there.  Do it."

I have dianthus blooming and coreopsis is up and budding.  The gladioli that refuse to be removed from the area right next to the house foundation,  have grown and grown this year.  Every year, I dig down and remove bulbs which promptly forget they grew in the poorest soil in the yard and die elsewhere, then the very next year there is a whole new crop of new glads up in the same spot.  This year I've resolved to leave them alone.  The very slow-growing Clematis has never bloomed but this year it's four times as tall as it was last year.  One day...as long as it is determined to grow, I am determined to remain hopeful that it will bloom.

And then there are the roses blooming.  That deep burgundy antique one that Nancy gave me years ago and the New Dawn has slipped in a few early blossoms.  The unnamed rose from Aldi showed up this time as a beautiful pinky coral and golden yellow.  I never know what bloom I'll get from that one.  I think there must be two or three grafts on that one plant.  The deep coral rose that blooms all summer that I bought from the clearance rack at Lowe's last year is looking lovely and has budded up.  Even that stubborn yellow rose is coming up between the porch floorboards once again.  When we get those steps redone I plan to see if we can't dig that root out from under the porch and then I'll plant it somewhere that it can just bloom for all it's worth and grow as it likes.  

The gardenia is putting out buds, the hydrangea is getting ready to push out buds, the phlox and salvias from last year (part clearance-priced plants, part sales plants) are all looking incredible as are the chrysanthemums and pansies from last fall. 

I told John that seeing all these plants makes me so happy and reinforces my determination to work on planting perennials that will bloom all through the summer.  

I mentioned earlier this week my disgust with USPS.  Honestly, I have a fondness for the USPS.  My dad was a mail carrier before his retirement.  So I have a personal attachment to the Post Office.  Mail in the rural areas is a big deal.  I well recall Granny receiving mail order packages from the mail lady.  It's one facet of shopping online I truly love. 

Our main mail carrier is a lovely woman who has worked this route for years.  She delivered Granny's mail, that's how long she's been on this route.  She is always friendly and upbeat.  Now the one who spots for her on her days off, you can have him.  He's prone to shove a too-large package in the box, or leave it propped against the mailbox pole rather than drive up to the house as Mary does.  And if he is forced to come up the drive one of two things will occur.  He'll leave a notice saying we weren't home when we are to avoid the drive, or he'll bring up the package but not the loose mail items which means going down to the mailbox to fetch them.  Mary will bring up the packages and the loose mail and if we are not home, she places the package on the back porch and loose mail in the box on her way back out of the drive.

I also like going to the post office or did.  Often it was a place to meet others and see people that one seldom saw otherwise, like going into the local stores or the library.  It is true, however, that most of the people I knew have died since they were all much older than myself.  The new employees are not friendly.    

The personal touch and human connection are quickly being removed from so much of our lives that I want to cling to what remains.   Everything is distanced, and self-serve (think ATMs and check-outs at the store).  I stubbornly refused to use the ATM for the longest time because I wanted personal contact with the teller even if it was through a glass window until they closed up the windows and put in vacuum tubes, a camera in your face that reveals you to the teller but doesn't allow you to see them and then I figured it was easiest to just use the ATM since I wasn't interacting with anyone anyway.  It was even worse during the trying time of our lives when doors closed and stayed closed far longer than suggested.  

I've heard much about the libraries Libby app which sounds perfectly nice until you consider that half the fun of going to the library was that it offered the opportunity to speak with the librarians who would make recommendations of books that fell into your preferred genres, or even shook you out of the ruts you'd gotten in by urging you to try something entirely new.  And then there's the whole sensory thing of handling the books and smelling the pages.  Alas, I get double vision if I stare at a Kindle screen too long and I have an aversion to the black screens with white type.  Don't ask me why but I find them mighty irritating.

 We are losing much with all of this contact-free business.  What's next?  Will we sit down before a machine that will automatically cut our hair based on a pre-selected style?  Will we lose the ability to make small talk with strangers?  Will we forget the common human courtesies?  What if we did the radical thing and opted to wait in the long line with a clerk who would ring up the groceries?  And what if we dared to say, "How's your day?" to a perfect stranger?  Or smiled and thanked them?  Gasp!  Could we survive doing such as that?

Don't get me wrong.  There is much to love about the online world.  I can find nearly anything my heart desires or something I need without hearing, "Oh we don't carry that.." "Sorry, but we can't get one in on the next shipment."  I love having information and knowledge at my fingertips.  I'll be the first to take up my phone and look up a new word or a quick study on a country I've never heard of, or to discover a musician or artist that is mentioned in a book or on a blog.   I still love mail-order clothing.  I just do, because it's a nostalgic thing for me and it saves me countless hours driving.  But I am also nostalgic for things like friendliness and neighborliness and people who know their business and can actually give you an answer.  And for faces that recognize you and smile when they see you approaching.  Those are all disappearing far too quickly.  Say what you like, it's just not the same when a computer program pops up a box that says, "Hi, Terri..."

I know that things can't always be as they used to be.  Yep, got that memo a long time ago.  But it's not going to stop me missing chatting with the clerk. The world is getting increasingly lonely for many people and part of that reason is generated by the push to do more online activities.  

Since I'm no longer keeping Caleb, and I only have Millie for a couple of hours here and there, I've been trying to find my way in this season of life.  So much changed over the two years we had Caleb.  I mentioned that Sabbath candle lighting fell by the wayside.  John was invited to participate in a ministry that takes up a Saturday each month.  While Caleb was here we found that unless we left home on a Saturday, we ended up 'babysitting' just as we'd done during the week.  Not saying Katie expected it but Caleb did.  He'd follow the weekday routines and he expected us to be there to give him that structure.  We wanted, Katie and ourselves, for him to see his Mama as an authority figure and to form a routine with her while she was off.  So we left home, which ensured that Katie had time alone with her children and had the opportunity to be a prominent figure in that little boy's life.  After Katie moved, she asked us to plan to come by on Sunday for dinner after church.  She wants the children to have that routine visit on the weekends.

When Katie moved, I didn't even blink.  Between renovations, holidays, and resettling the house after the renovation work was done, there was no time to wonder what this new season would look like.  Now it's impacting me.  

At the same time, as I look at the amount of work that has typically fallen to me (painting porches and sheds, routine cleanings, gardening), I find that while I very much want to see those things done, I don't have the inclination nor the time to work as hard as I did four years ago.  In fact, it's necessary to work at a much slower pace.  Add interruptions from John who has no respect at all for my busyness, days that are often unpredictable based upon who needs me that day, or what John has planned to do, and the usual amount of stuff that must be done, I often wonder if I'll ever again catch up on things.

The truth is that now that I am seldom alone, my time and energy are stretched to cover far more than before. Once I find a recognizable rhythm I might get more done.  But right now, tas I write this,  I am looking for ways to make the work I do more lasting so that I have to repeat things like painting less often.  Plant more perennials and fewer annuals.  Find a paint that doesn't show dirt and mildew as easily as what we have now does.  Ask for John's help.  That is one I find hard.  I'm accustomed to doing things myself, doing them in my way, and accepting that he wasn't here to help.  Only now he is here.  He's not going to help with the gardening part.  He's made it very plain that he has no interest but he will help with other tasks.  

But I'm also having a hard time getting my head organized.  What exactly do I want my life to look like?   We've had to abandon so many plans.  Not enough time, not enough money, not enough want to...but there are many things we both want to do separately and together.  We are finding it necessary to be selfish with our time, as we were when John worked a demanding schedule and our time alone was so very precious. We grew accustomed to being 'on demand' during the past four years for various child- care duties.  Now we're reassessing how often we say "Yes".    We want to spend time with the grandchildren.  We want to spend time doing some of the things we want to do.  We are in a limited time frame.  They will grow.  We're getting older.  We may not be fit to do the things we hope if we push off our plans too long. It's a constant tug back and forth to try and decide how this time in our lives should look.  Frankly, that is not what I expected it to look like from this age.  I thought of it more as freedom, both financially and personally.  I hadn't realized that we'd be looking through the narrower end of  the telescope in so many ways!

Well dears, I've chatted as long as I can.  Time for me to get busy once more.  I hope you've enjoyed your coffee with me.  It won't be long before we're chatting over iced tea!

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The Homemaker Plans Her Week: Planning Much, Doing Much?

 

I wish I could tell you I accomplished loads of things last week.  I didn't.  I wasn't a slacker by any means!  I worked hard and steadily and stuck to my goal of not sitting down with the computer and getting lost for hours on end.  Most of my computer time was at the end of the day and I mean the very end, after dinner was cleared up and put away and I'd taken time to do another task or two.  But it's also true that I was tired from the travel, had company or went to be company, had two days out of the house (Tuesday and Friday), and tried to take a full day off on Thursday to do writing and such but somehow that day didn't go quite as planned.  I'm not complaining.  I got things done, just not all my ambitious self thought I might.

But you know what?  This is a brand new week and we've a few more to go here in April so there's time to get more things done.

Diary of a Homemaker's Week: All Sorts of Adventures

 

Saturday:  We woke really early this morning and went outdoors with coffee.  It's a lovely thing to sit on the beach and watch the dolphins play in the surf.  The birds were so loud.  Little finches and sparrows were in all the trees and shrubs about the motel.  And they were fairly tame.  I had one brave little bird hop up to me looking for food.  Alas, we had nothing to share with them except coffee and frankly, I'm selfish when it comes to my cup of coffee!

It was downright chilly.  I was glad I'd packed my jacket and brought a sweater to go over my dress for the wedding.  

Thrifty Thursday: Travel and Save

Friday:  We started off on our journey today.  I packed lunch, breakfasts, snacks, coffee, and filters.  There were meal plans for most of the weekend already and I knew those meals were the ones we'd need to provide for ourselves. 

One way we 'saved' today wasn't just bringing our own food...It was the backroads we traveled.  There was no place to grab fast food or drinks until we'd been on the road for hours.  Glad I had packed food and drinks for us!

A Wedding Weekend

 

I wanted to share about the travel and wedding we enjoyed this past weekend.  I don't have any photos to share of the wedding couple because I don't have their permission to share, but I thought I'd tell you all about our adventures.

John and I did our level best to spoil this trip for ourselves before leaving home.  There were a lot of unanswered questions about what we were doing and when for the wedding itself and that was no fault of ours or the bride and groom's.  They knew no more than we did.  We let our anxieties get the best of us because we were traveling to a place we had never been, were unsure of how late we might be, and were on a tight time schedule.  We also were slated to perform certain duties, so we had the added pressure of making sure we'd packed all of John's music equipment we'd need, enough clothing for various functions, etc.  Then there was our anxiety over getting lost because...well we just do.  A missed road sign can change a trip entirely!  We are not graceful with such things as that and that causes us to both snip and snap.