Random 5 for February 12 – Family, Valentine’s Day, projects, eyes, husbands

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Step-daughter Essi

Step-daughter Essi

Family – It was a week of family. Step-daughter flew in for a short stay and we had a bridal shower for a grandniece. Always good to see family!

A holiday? – When I was a kid, Valentine’s Day was so exciting. We would decorate a shoebox with hearts and lace; put a slot in the top; and hope kids would put cards in. Now that we are older, it’s different. There’s no shoebox. Not many cards either. I don’t like eating out on “the day” because it’s crowded. Flowers are overpriced. I’m such a curmudgeon but still a romantic. We celebrated this past week and missed paying extra for everything.

Getting lazy – We are planning our house projects for this year. Usually there is an extensive list. Some are “for pretty” but most are routine (I hate to waste money on stuff you can’t see…like water heaters). We look at these projects differently these days. We won’t be in this house for many years so we make our improvements widely appealing. Last year we had to replace the stair carpet. We had a gorgeous oriental with beautiful colors. I loved it but the bottom step wore bare. We replaced it with a lovely neutral that will work with anything. We will do the same with the island countertop this year. Maybe I’m tired of neutral stuff or maybe I’m tired of house projects but the list is smaller this year.

Source: Wikihow

Source: Wikihow

A lost day – Periodically I get eye irritation, a non-contagious conjunctivitis. It can happen out of the blue for no apparent reason. I got a flare up this weekend. When this happens my eyes water profusely. It feels like I have sand in my eye and I am very sensitive to light. There is no magic cure. I stay out of bright light, use drops and hot compresses. Within a day or two, it subsides. Since I’m house bound, I watch daytime TV (groan). I look for the fun talk and cooking shows and avoid game shows. This time I got it on a Saturday. Gah! Cartoons! I listened to music.

The beloved husband

The beloved husband

He’s the best! – While I was hiding from bright windows and tearing up from nothing, the beloved husband surprised me with a Starbucks mocha latte. Better than steroids. He’s a keeper for sure.

So how was your week?

 

 

 

44 thoughts on “Random 5 for February 12 – Family, Valentine’s Day, projects, eyes, husbands”

  2. Your eye issue sounds really miserable, and I’m glad it does’t “visit” too often. Your new home updates sound really nice. I’ve always gravitated to a lot of color, but recently I noticed that I also find myself frequently leaning more towards a neutral palette. I think the tones can be restful and I’m all about that. 🙂

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  3. I stared and stared at the heart-shaped chocolate boxes today. $4.99 was too cheap and $24.00 was outrageous. I went for something in between, better than Hershey’s but not quite as good as Godiva. Valentine’s Day is just a big commercial blowhard holiday. Yet, I still go through the motions. Oh, and I visited Victoria’s Secret after the chocolates. I stimulated the economy, or so it would appear. – Marty

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  4. No Valentine Day traditions for us. We’re dull. I hear you about the home improvements. Although we plan to be here for a decade more, I always err on the side of neutral for things that stay with the house. My days of bold red rooms and dramatic drapes are over.

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  6. Valentine’s day is also my anniversary, followed by one birthday after the other. February is just one big celebration around this house. If nothing else, it makes the winter go by a little bit faster.
    Glad your eye is on the mend! Your husband is Quaker? So am I! I know he’s a keeper!!

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  8. I don’t think my husband is happy if he doesn’t have some sort of house project going. He’d deny it, but don’t believe him. We don’t “do” Valentine’s Day, except maybe a card. Restaurants are usually too full and often disappointing.

    Your story about your eye and watching TV until you feel better reminds me of staying home sick when I was little and finding out that my usual daytime programs (I remember reruns of I Love Lucy and the Dick Van Dyke Show being favorites) being interrupted for some stupid news event.

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    • My husband has “unofficial projects” all the time. Right now he’s helping a relative build a platform bed. I can relate to your sick days. You can bet if I am sick enough to be in front of a TV during the day, there was a disaster that they are televising 24/7.

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    • I did get tulips and a potted plant. My cats, even the newbie, don’t go after anything but cat grass. The bad news is that the greenhouse that grew it locally burned down. Now I am babying the few chewed up plants I have hoping they will last until they rebuild. I may have to plant my own.

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  11. Ahh! Yes, I would say your husband is a keeper : Sorry about your eye.
    When the kids were younger I used to make a mystery meal for Valentine’s Day. Give all kinds of crazy names to the food and silverware and they could pick 2 things each time. Was always fun to watch, someone eat soup with a fork or eat pudding with no silverware, etc. I liked including them for V-day is a celebration of love and I love my whole family. My hubby and go out to eat, but never on Valentine’s Day, right before or after. As you said, too long of lines. Crazy!

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  12. Hi Kate–I had an optomologist tell me about 20 years ago to wash my eyes with baby shampoo. I know it sounds funny but it works. I know two other people who’s doctors also told them the same. I had watery eyes and the doctor said I had blephoritis. I do this every evening and since I don’t use waterproof mascara, it also removes any eye makeup I may have applied. I can’t use eye makeup remover pads because they irritate my eyes. I found that out by trying these for a short time and developed swelling and itchy eyes.
    I suds up the baby shampoo and go over my eyes. I also wet a cotton round and suds that up and go over my eyes to remove any makeup and mascara. I then was told to wet a q-tip and pick up some of the suds and go in between the top and bottom lashes to remove any other residue. Sometimes these eye irritations cause bacteria between the lashes and you may experience crusty eyes in the morning. The doctor said he could see I had crusty areas on my eyelashes when he looked through the magnifying machine, but to the naked eye I couldn’t see anything. I can say I haven’t had any problems with my eyes since I’ve started washing them this way. It’s way cheaper also than using eye makeup remover or remover pads.

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    • My eye doc told me that too. Sometimes I do, sometimes I opt for the gentle face wash I use for my face. My eyes are sensitive to eye makeup. I stopped most eye makeup completely but occasionally use mascara just at the edges. I had done that the night before and wondered if that was the cause. The winter is the worst with the dry air. You are lucky you can still wear eye makeup. I miss the liner. I wouldn’t even attempt to try that.

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  13. Since I don’t plan on moving until I die I decorate as I please. If my plans change I’ll deal with it then. My Valentine’s aren’t allowed out side the balcony so we will stay home. The kid looks a lot like the keeper.

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  16. My week!!!! I loved that red oriental on the stairs. We have been engaging in some updates and repairs here. Everyone keeps saying, “Well, if you plan on selling you should…” Honestly, I refuse to “decorate” for a future buyer. Perhaps I am being foolish, but if when the time comes, if I have to make changes, then I will. For now…

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    • I love the new neutral too. I won’t put something in I don’t like because a little bit longer may be 5 years but I also won’t invest a boatload of money for something I can’t take along. I loved that carpet too. (I did look to see if it was available first but it’s been discontinued.)

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  17. That’s a keep all right. (One day is long enough! Hope the problem has dimmed and diminished)
    I miss those boxes – and all the excitement, the clumsy glue (not it’s so neat) and the fading red construction paper or bleeding crepe paper. (Teachers probably hated the stains and mess). We were so much simpler and less demanding – content with kid made imperfections. Perhaps a lot more fun, too? (We will not eat out that day – and not because they are predicting massive rains, floods, world ending and such. Too. crowded and food/service generally less good))

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    • The year I remember most was my second grade Valentine’s Day. Maybe the teacher helped us to decorate? Don’t know why. I don’t even remember the kids anymore. I switched from public to a Catholic school the following year.

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  20. I like to decorate seasonally, so much of my house is in neutral colors — that way I can change the curtains in the winter or spring. I guess that will be an added benefit when we sell.

    Wow, that eye thing sounds quite debilitating. But good on the hubby!

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    • I like color. I usually have neutral walls but somewhere I like a splash of color. The oriental worked wonderful with the red accent wall going up the staircase but the neutral isn’t plain. It’s a light tan with a pindot for interest. I rarely change window treatments but will do some seasonal stuff.

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  21. Nice that you were able to see family… and a bridal shower, too! I am not a fan of Valentine’s Day… we don’t do Valentine’s Day but sometimes CH can’t help himself and gets me a card 😀 All I want for Valentine’s Day is to eat at our favorite Chinese restaurant! Sorry about your eyes… thank heavens it doesn’t last long. Glad the “beloved husband” is a keeper… CH is a keeper too! Our week plus a few more days was wonderful! We were in our favorite place… Venice, Florida! Longest stretch of beautiful weather we have had since we have been going there for 21 years! We have missed a few winters, but not many 🙂

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    • I used to visit Florida every winter but it’s been many years since I was there. The last two times we went, the weather was cool. I was looking for 80 degrees and I got 50. I love Valentine traditions that don’t include the traditional. Chinese is good.

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