Happy Homemaker Monday 3/20/2017

It's time for another Happy Homemaker Monday with Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.  Click here if you'd like to join in .

The weather:::
Up and down...as low as 44, as high as 71, there's just no telling what's in store for us - it snowed yesterday for about 15 minutes!

On my reading pile:::
One more chapter to go in  A Heart for Home by Lauraine Snelling.

On my TV:::
I finished The House of Eliott and how I wish I had read the Wikipedia entry first!  Grrr, the writers did not anticipate that the BBC would cancel the program at the end of the third series so there were five, yes five!, unresolved story lines where we are just left hanging.  I hate that!

On a happier note, I am eagerly anticipating the premieres of Call the Midwife Season 6 and Home Fires Season 2 on my local PBS station on April 2.  I wondering how Home Fires will end because it too was not picked up for a third season.

On the menu for this week:::
Yay, Vic is home so I have real meals to plan!
Monday - Chicken Tikka Masala
Tuesday - Herb-Crusted Salmon (definitely a firm favorite now)
Wednesday - Corned Beef and Cabbage Bubble and Squeak
Thursday - Shrimp something
Friday - Grilled Chicken something
Weekend - I can't think that far ahead right now!

On my to-do list:::

• Fun stuff - two more lunches this week - Volunteer Appreciation event today and then the Lunch Bunch goes Greek tomorrow.
• Haircut
• Rudolph Day on Saturday
• Afternoon Tea at another new tea room this weekend

What I am sewing, crocheting, knitting or creating:::

My Tea Cup and Mug Exchange package - not really creating, more like putting it together.  I can't share it right now since we'll be having a reveal in April but I can say that I'd love to be receiving what I'm sending. 

Looking around the house:::
Tidy - I had a cleaning day on Friday - Vic wasn't able to get on the red eye on Thursday night so since he wasn't due home until Friday dinner time, I had plenty of time to get all of the housework out of the way.

From the camera:::

Table decorations from the Joint Services Luncheon I attended last week - the luncheon rotates annually between the Navy, Army, and Air Forces bases in the area - last week was the Army's turn.  The frame describes the pieces on the tables:
Pineapple - Virginia's unofficial symbol of warmth and welcoming
Camo Ribbon - A nod to the Army history on this installation
Purple Ribbon and Frame - The color you get when you combine all the forces working together as one
Gold Figure - Don't we all feel our service members are like gold to us and to this country?
Wine Glass and Goody - Who couldn't use a little wine and chocolate in this crazy life that we live? (everyone took one of these home)

It was a lovely luncheon - everyone received a Bingo card when they checked in that had "Army Spouse", "Navy Spouse", etc. in the boxes and we had to go around the room and meet new friends who fit the category - one of our local spouses' club members was the only Marine Corps spouse at the luncheon so she was VERY popular!  When you had a Bingo, you put your card in a bag for a drawing and I'm thrilled to say I was the lucky winner - a bottle of wine, four lovely gold tea light holders, and a $20 Visa gift card.

The event was really fun because it was like a Dining In, a formal military event where there are rules that everyone must follow and there is a penalty for violating the rules which usually involves drinking the grog (usually very potent brew but in our case, just very sweet) or wearing a silly hat, cape, or feather boa.  It got to the point where table mates were turning each other in just to see what penalty the MC would come up with next!  Hilarious!

The guest speaker was the widow of a Seal Team Six member who died in the horrific Chinook helicopter incident in 2011.  She was such an inspiration, so courageous, and had a great message about the wonderful bond between military spouses during good times and bad.

Something fun to share:::

Continuing on with the Declutter Challenge update:

March 14 - Cleaning Supplies - I'm good with this one - I gave so many things to Sophia when we left Washington since the movers won't ship open liquids so I am very frugal with what I buy at our new location to avoid this problem again.

March 15 - Toiletries - Again, passed on a lot of things and stopped keeping a big stockpile so I'm not in the same position when we leave here.  I do seem to have a lot of lotion so I'm keeping a bottle next to the bed and using it faithfully at night.

March 16 - Makeup Drawer and Bag - This still needs some work - I don't have a lot of different things as I tend to stick to tried and true favorites but I need to dig out my "how long should you keep makeup" chart and see what needs to be replaced.

March 17 - Medicine Cabinet - Good, cleaned out the expired items before we left Washington.

March 18 - Linen Closet - Done, I blogged about this a while ago and it's still nice and tidy.  I really need to decide if I'm going to keep all the twin bedding or if I should make a bundle and try to get rid of it on Ebay.

March 19 - Desk - A constant work in progress.

What I'm wearing today:::
Black pants, dressy blouse, black clogs - I'm off to the Volunteer Appreciation event.

Bible Verse, Devotional:::
The thread of our life would be dark, Heaven knows, if it were not with friendship and love intertwined.  (Thomas Moore (1779-1852), Irish poet