The food cabinets

 

I tackled the food cabinets in my kitchen this week. During this process with the food cabinets, I discovered three things.  One is that I have way too much candy.  Two is that I will cram whatever wherever just to fit it in there.  Three is I am not letting food go to waste like I used to.

Why do I have so much candy?  I blame the holidays LOL Not only do I receive a lot of candy as gifts, for which I am truly grateful to be thought of during the holidays, I also buy a lot of candy during that time.  This will come as no shock to anyone who's been in my house or really knows me at all, but I love to have candy dishes filled and in each room.  It can be quite decorative, and most guests always want a little something sweet.  And there are candies that you cannot get other times of the year, so I tend to stock up. The ironic thing about it, other than I really only have guests during the holidays (need to change that) is that I don't eat much candy anymore.  The older I get; my tastes go more towards the savory than the sweet. Still, that does not stop me from buying it and keeping a cabinet full.  Oh well.  

The food cabinets were also incredibly disorganized.  And this is something that I have to work on.  I pulled everything out and got it all organized back in the cabinet.  I did my best to keep like products together.  I am sure I can do more in that department, but for right now it will work.  The most important thing now is that I can see pretty much everything in there so that will make it a lot easier when I am looking for something.  I have the tendency, as do most of us, I'm sure, to just shove something in the cabinet wherever I can find a space.  On one hand, I am not letting any ounce of space go to waste.  On the other hand, I don't know what I've got and will often buy something I already have because I could not see it in the cabinet.

Amazingly, I only had to toss out one thing that was out of date.  Now, I will keep things a little bit over the expiration date (not too much, though). But if something is well over a year out of date, into the trash it goes.  This year it was a box of Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookies.  Alas, they are my favorite, but I didn't want to risk it because of their age.  In hindsight, they were probably ok, but I feel better for having let them go. And because I don't eat sweets like I used to, it would take me a long time to go through that box.  So, I am happy that I am at least using what is in there before it goes bad.  That is a plus and my wallet is very appreciative for that!

Finishing up these cabinets means that I am about one quarter of the way through the kitchen.  That is not too shabby.  This works for me and thank you for your indulgence in my writing about it.  

Abide with Me

 This hymn I remember singing many times growing up at FBC in Monroe. We were a very traditional type of church and so was the music we sang during service.  This is one of those hymns that easily gets stuck in my head. I will find myself singing it for no reason at all.  The hymn was written in 1847 by Henry Francis Lyte as he was dying from tuberculosis.  I did not know that fact until just now when I looked it up and that puts a very different slant on it for me.  Gives it a more powerful impact, I believe.  Here it is beautifully arranged and sung by the BYU Men's Chorus. 

I took Facebook off of my phone

 

Several weeks ago, I took Facebook off of my phone.  I did that mainly for my mental health. Overall, I really enjoy my time on Facebook and I have worked very hard to have my personal Facebook page a place where people can go and not worry about all of the evils in the world and all of the bad things going on.  I have also worked hard to get my Facebook algorithm to do the same thing. But I came to the realization that I do not want access to that all day long.  I don't need to be constantly looking at my phone when I am notified of a message or of a comment. That kind of behavior is taking me out of the moment I am living at that time and it is no longer worth worrying about.  I can definitely tell a difference in my level of peace since I have let go of that.  It's a good feeling.

Another thing that is keeping my mental health in a good place is getting outside more.  Going on these daily walks really is refreshing and rejuvenating.  Again, this is an experience where I leave my phone at home.  I know will laugh at people (on the inside) when I see them walking and staring down at their phones.  They are missing so much.  On today's walk, many people spoke to me when I walked by.  That was so nice and reminder of what a great neighborhood I live in. I am finding it so beneficial to take these little steps to enhance my mental health.  Everything goes back to some sort of self-care with me.  I want to be good to others, but I must be good to myself first.  I am definitely going in the right direction. 

Nella Fantasia - Amici Forever

 Nella Fantasia was written for the 1986 film The Mission starring Robert DeNiro.  I was first introduced to the song about 20 years ago from a friend and this was the version he shared with me.  I think it's a beautiful song and beautifully performed by Amici Forever, an "opera pop" group.  I have several of their albums and always enjoy them.  Hope you do too!

Quote of the Week

 

It has honestly taken me a long time to learn this lesson, but it is well worth it!

Going antiquing

 

This past weekend, I took a day trip to my hometown of Monroe, NC.  It brought back a lot of good memories, and I had a wonderful day.  Of course, I thought a lot about Grandmother and all of the good times we had together.  If I had been in town for more than just the day, I believe that I would have traveled town to Waxhaw to see if any of the antiques shops were still there.  Back in the day, the 80s and 90s that is, Waxhaw was a major hub for antiques shoppers.  There were so many great stores and I spent many weekends there, especially with Grandmother.

That got me to thinking about other trips we took where antiques were involved.  Mostly day trips but sometimes not.  I remember one trip we took to an antiques mall in Locust with Mom and Alice Williams. I remember that because I bought a milk glass plate with cats on it and a beautiful green glass bowl.  I still have both.  Then there was the time on the way home from Raleigh that we stopped off in a little town whose name escapes me right now, but it was filled with antiques stores, and we stopped there several times.  That one is going to drive me nuts until I remember the name.  It's funny because an antiques dealer from Monroe, Robert Deese, had a shop there.  Oh well.  It will come to me!  Cameron!  It was Cameron, NC.  I wonder if there are still shops there.  I'll have to check it out soon. 

Anyway, what made those trips so much fun was not just the antiques but having people with me.  Spending time together doing something we all enjoyed. Stopping somewhere for lunch and doing a day's worth of antiquing. That was quality time in my world.  And I want that again.  I want to find some other antiques lovers to peruse the shops with.  Maybe take some day trips to shops in other cities and towns.  I think that would be fun.  As much fun as I have when I go antiques shopping by myself, I have much more fun with other antiques lovers.  I do have some friends that we try to get together and hit up some estate sales and shops, but we haven't been able to in a while. We need to change that!

If you're interested, just let me know!  It is not only about finding that special treasure or that incredibly good deal.  It is also about quality time with people I care about.  I want that.  

Peter Pan records

 As you know, I love records.  I have a pretty extensive collection of vintage vinyl that I have amassed over the last 15 years.  I think that I have somewhere between 500 and 600 records. It could be more, but I have not updated my inventory in a while.  That is including my collection of Christmas records, which is almost half of my overall collection.  There is just something about listening to vinyl that is like nothing else.  You hear all of the scratches and background noise.  Some of the records are still in mono which is kind of fun.  It may not be as clear as what you hear when you listen to a cd or hear something streaming, but I find it magical. It is another way I get in touch with my old soul, so to speak.  

Many years ago, at Christmas, Pam and Stephen, my in-laws at the time, gave me a stack of children's records as a gift.  They knew that I would love it and I absolutely did. They were the old Peter Pan records.  They are 45s. Each one came with a book that you would follow along with as the record read you the story.  And a bell would ring when it was time to turn the page.  

This week, I finally got those records off of the shelf and started listening to them.  It was just fun.  And it took me back decades to my childhood. Sitting in our den in my pre-kindergarten days, sitting in front of our record player listening to a wonderful story.  And it was such a wonderful gift to receive from someone or from Santa.  It made me feel so grown up.  How ironic that, as a grown up, I am listening to these records to remember my childhood and feel those feelings again.  And yes, I have been sitting and listening and following along with the books while the record plays. A fun pastime for a 51-year-old man LOL

I had a few of these records myself.  Some of mine were the regular size as well with large picture books.  I still have some of them. I have really enjoyed listening to these and I know I will revisit them later on.  Who knows, I may just start looking for more of these to add to my collection!