I am a Victorian Soul, who lives in a small townhouse that was built in the mid 1970's, not a huge Mega Mansion!! I just recently lost my Hubby Joe, who was a Retired Letter Carrier. I worked night shift as an RN on a Hospital based Rehabilitation( Physical Medicine) Unit for 37 years before I had Knee Replacement Surgery and officially Retired in 2019 after 41 years working in Direct Patient Care ... I am so glad that we retired at 62 years of age and got to spend that time together before he passed....I still do love Retirement!!!!

I DABBLE IN A BIT OF THIS AND THAT!!!!

" IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO BE WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE BEEN"
George Eliot
George Eliot was actually a pen name for a woman named Mary Anne Evans......

BLOGGING FOR FUN AND FRIENDSHIP!!!!!!

Monday, February 17, 2025

A Review of Quarterly Goals & Possibilities List

 


 

Welcome to Debbie-Dabble Blog!!

 
I am so happy you decided to stop by!!
 
Blogging has always been a stress reliever for me along with an avenue to share my passions which are my home and my garden.....
 
 I feel it is a personal Journal that, hopefully, someday, my Twin Granddaughters will be able to look back on to learn about who I was.... 

I will be posting 3 times a week on MONDAYS, THURSDAYS and SATURDAYS....
 

As always, click on each picture if you would like to enlarge it....
 
 
 PINTEREST
 
If you would like to Pin my pictures, please click on them to enlarge them to do so....
 
 
 A NOTE ABOUT COMMENTS
 
I enjoy reading your comments and will return the favor by visiting and commenting on your blog or reply to you directly here if you do not have a blog but I do have my comment section set to Moderation due to spammers and hackers so your comment will not appear immediately...
And since I have a very busy life, like most of us do, it may take me awhile to return your comments but I promise I will....
 
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 In my last post, I shared my Annual Winter/Valentine's Home Tour with 10 Trees....




  Click HERE if you missed that post!! 

 

 And now for a few Personal Notes...
 

You know why Hell is going to freeze over this week? 

Because I actually baked cookies that were not for Christmas!! 

 

 

I made a batch of chocolate chip cookies...

 

I "tasted" 3 of them, to be sure they were okay, then made up a container for my next door neighbor's for helping me with the appliance delivery last week. 

I made up 2 more containers that I will gift the kids when they visit on Tuesday ( hopefully barring anymore unforeseen circumstances) and I left out a few cookies for Joey when he comes for dinner today...

 

I never liked to have baked goods in the house so there is none left for me to eat, which is a very good thing!!

 

I am loving my new washer and dryer!

I am getting my laundry done in half the amount of time it used to take...

And I am thrilled that I bought them before the tariffs take place on goods from Canada as my Whirlpool appliances were made in Canada....



 I actually did not notice this until I saw a post on FB from a former class mate that his new Maytag Washer was made in Canada and he was thrilled that he bought it before the tariffs raise the prices on appliances....

 

As I have mentioned before, I am leaving up all my Valentine's decor for the month of February which is Heart Month....

 
 I do this to honor my Dad as he passed away in February, 38 years ago, from a massive heart attack....


I linked up to a Linky Party, back on January 9th, hosted by these fellow Bloggers who decided to do posts  on Quarterly Goals and Bucket Lists instead of yearly ones...
 
 

I originally saw the post on Marsha's Blog, Marsha in the Middle, and I was intrigued!!
 
 
Now that we are midway through February, I thought I would review how I did so far with my monthly Goals....

My Goals are pretty much like a To Do List which I have liked to do for many , many years....

It keeps me focused on all I have to do and provides a bit of Behavior Modification when I get to check off each completed item on those lists... 

 

 So let's take a look at how I did in January.....

JANUARY

 Pack up and put away Christmas down stairs - DONE but carried it over into February which was when I finished up packing away Christmas in the Living Room...

Change over Powder Room to Valentine's - DONE

 

Change over Den to Winter - DONE

 

Change over Kitchen to Winter with a touch of Valentine's - DONE


Decorate Dining Room and Living Room for Valentine's - DONE


 

 Go through and reorganize all the cupboards and drawers in the Kitchen - DONE


Donate what I do not need or use - I am still boxing up things to take to Salvation Army and will do so once I fill the box...

Work on my Christmas Planner for next Holiday Season - STARTED

I did do some financial planning in preparation for Next Christmas and took a look at what I spent, what I need to buy and decided to increase my Christmas Club...


 Yes, you read that right, a Christmas Club....

You can read about it HERE!!!

 Get back on my Wellness Program, using Intermittent Fasting - STARTED

Drink at least 64 oz. of water a day - Most Days

 

See Wicked in a movie theater - NOPE! Never happened due to weather and illness

FINALLY use my new Crock Pot - NOPE!

FINALLY use my new Camera - YES, all my pictures for my Blog are now taken with my new camera..

Try some new recipes ( don't laugh) - YES....Actually I tried quite a few new casserole recipes

Start getting paper work for Taxes ready ( my first time ever doing so) - NOPE!


Well, all in all, I think I did not do too badly in January.....

 

Now let's take a look at how I am doing in February so far....

 FEBRUARY

 February is not going so good.....

But in my defense, I had a lot going on in the beginning of the month....

My friend Anne Marie passed away, which knocked me for a loop...

 Then there was her Funeral, my washer died, I had a new washer and dryer delivered and then I got sick.....TWICE!

 I needed to give myself some GRACE....

I have been using this phrase a lot but what exactly does it mean.....

    "Give yourself some grace" means to treat yourself with kindness and understanding, especially when you make a mistake or are going through difficult times..

 It's a practice of self-compassion that involves accepting and forgiving yourself. 

 

 February Goals....

Pack away Christmas in the Sitting Room, Upstairs Hall, Bathroom, Bedroom and Craft Room - Have not even thought about this yet but I do hope to manage to get some of this done by March

Give all these rooms a good cleaning before redecorating them with the "normal" decor for these rooms - again, hopefully some of these rooms will be done by March

 Decorate the Den China Cupboard and the area around it for Saint Patrick's Day - I hope to do this actually at the end of this week....

Work on my Financial Plan for next Winter - Yes, I have been working on this...

I will be getting rid of my landline soon which will save me over $30 a month...


Since I only have one cell phone number now and not 2 different ones when Joe was alive, it makes it easier to do this...
 
Plus when I had to change all of our accounts over to just my name, I gave my cell phone number, instead of the landline, in anticipation of getting rid of the landline... 

I also looked into the PPL Budget Plan...
 

  
My townhouse is ALL electric so my PPL bill triples in the Winter because of the heat being on and this Winter, which has been our coldest one in 10 years, really drove that monthly bill up...
 
So I decided to get on PPL's budget plan where I pay a set fee monthly instead of getting socked with huge bills for almost 5 months..
 

 
I am also hoping that my new energy efficient washer and dryer will save me some money on my electric bill as I am now getting my laundry done in half the time!!
 
I will be doing a post in the future about how I am planning for next Winter, financially...

 Start walking for exercise again - NOPE.....we are getting snow and ice almost every other day here so that is just not happening..

 Drink at least 64 oz. of water a day - Most of the time

Call my Tax Preparer and get paper work to him - I really need to work on this and get it to him in the beginning of March as this is the first time I am doing this

Stick to my Wellness Program - I have been doing okay with this and actually managed to lose a few pounds...



Possibilities

 I have posted this quote before....


 This in itself is a great Possibilities List

 But I am focusing on the last statement...

I HOPE to buy LESS...

Can't guarantee Buying Nothing

I have really cut way back on Buying so far this year...

As part of my Winter Stock Up Plan, I actually did not have to go to the grocery store for 3 weeks which did save me a lot of money off my monthly budget... 

And because of that, along with bad weather and getting sick, I last put gas in my car on.....
 
Wait for it....
 
DECEMBER 30th!!!!
 
Yep, you read that right!!
 
And that was even with a trip up to Scranton for my friend Anne Marie's Funeral... 

In all honesty, the furthest that I usually travel is to church which is only about 10 -13 minutes away but because of bad weather almost every single weekend, I have been staying home and streaming the masses...

I did buy a few things though which I hope to share in my next post on THURSDAY.....


I do have to admit that the last few weeks have been a bit rocky but I am still.....

 

 Because without HOPE.....

 

 HOPE is my Word of the Year for 2025....

I have HOPE that I will be able to get the majority of my Goals done for February...

And still have HOPE that this will be a good year... 

 I HOPE you will stop by to visit again on THURSDAY!  
 
 
 Stay safe, healthy and most of all, HAPPY!!

Thanks to those who took the time out of their busy day to spend a little bit of time with me!!

If you do not have a blog, PLEASE  give me some way to reply to your comment, maybe by including your email in your comment.  If I can not find a way to reach you, I will reply on the post where you commented so please check back......


I am linking up to these parties:
 


  THURSDAY
 

    Please take some time to visit these terrific hosts and all those joining in on the fun!
 





Posted by at 6 comments:

Saturday, February 15, 2025

Annual Winter/Valentine's Home Tour with 10 Trees & a Tablescape, 2025

 




 

 Welcome to Debbie-Dabble Blog!!

 
I am so happy you decided to stop by!!
 
Blogging has always been a stress reliever for me along with an avenue to share my passions which are my home and my garden.....
 
 I feel it is a personal Journal that, hopefully, someday, my Twin Granddaughters will be able to look back on to learn about who I was.... 

I will be posting 3 times a week on MONDAYS, THURSDAYS and SATURDAYS....
 

As always, click on each picture if you would like to enlarge it....
 
 
 PINTEREST
 
If you would like to Pin my pictures, please click on them to enlarge them to do so....
 
 
 A NOTE ABOUT COMMENTS
 
I enjoy reading your comments and will return the favor by visiting and commenting on your blog or reply to you directly here if you do not have a blog but I do have my comment section set to Moderation due to spammers and hackers so your comment will not appear immediately...
And since I have a very busy life, like most of us do, it may take me awhile to return your comments but I promise I will....
 
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Happy Valentine's Weekend!!
 
 

And...
 

  I hope you enjoy the Holiday weekend!!


I want to Thank Pam, over at An Artful Mom, for choosing my post, Winter Beverage Bar and Counter Bar in the Kitchen, as one of her features from last week's Thursday Favorite Things Linky Party!!


Thanks so much, Pam!! 

 

And I want to Thank Sue, over at Women Living Well After 50, for choosing my post, Valentine's Cupid Cafe, Hutch and More in the Dining Room, as one of her features from last week's Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot Link Party!!

 


 Thanks again, Sue!!!
 
 
I also want to Thank Andrea, over at the Cottage Market, for choosing my post, Valentine's Cupid Cafe, Hutch and More in the Dining Room, as one of her features from last week's Morning Cup of Joe Link Party!!  


 
 Thanks so much, Andrea!!  Especially for naming me the "Queen of the Seasons"!

 Please stop by and link up to all these charming parties....

 


 And now for a few Personal Notes...
 

I am feeling much better.....

No fever, no body aches, no headache.....just some nasal congestion and stuffiness....

I did take Tuesday and Wednesday of last week to do some self care and just rested and relaxed.... 

I caught up on some of my favorite You Tuber's, like Arlynn's Country Craft Corner, who just shared her amazing Winter Home Tour........

Arlynn's own grief journey after the passing of her 39 year old daughter has been such a comfort to me on my own grief journey after the passing of Joe and my good friend Anne Marie...

I also caught up with Brittney Blane

She is a self proclaimed Seasonal decorator and it was so refreshing to see a social media content creator saying that she is leaving all her Valentine's decoration up for the entire month of February to celebrate the month of Love..... 

Where most content creators rip down all their decorations the day of the Holiday so they could hurry up and move on to the next Holiday... 

 You can see that I was enjoying some soup that I ordered from Sam's Club....


 Cheddar Broccoli Soup....

 

On Valentine's Day, I actually went out to the grocery store for the first time in 3 weeks!!

Yes, my Winter Stock Up Plan is working so well at saving me money when it comes to groceries, whose prices are still rising and will be even more so after the tariffs were imposed...

I do not like to take selfies but I wanted to share the jewelry I wore for Valentine's Day...

 
To honor those that I lost on this Valentine's Day, I wore the heart necklace with Joe's wedding ring on it....
 

And I added the beautiful butterfly, that holds some of my friend Anne Marie's ashes, to a sterling silver chain that I had...

Again, I thank Anne Marie's husband Tony for being so thoughtful to gift me this beautiful butterfly....

The sweater is new and has a bit of a sparkly thread through it...

 

I also wanted to share my Family Ring that Joe bought me a few years back....

My birthstone, garnet, and Joe's birthstone, peridot, along with 2 blue topaz stones for both of the boy's as their Birthdays are in December....

You can see that the names are engraved by each stone....
 
I am currently looking to have my granddaughter's names, Lily and Gigi, added next to Joey and Jimmy's names by the blue topaz stones since their Birthdays are also in December....

Joe bought me the diamond anniversary ring on our 10th Anniversary....

So my new quest right now is to find a jeweler that does engraving....


I did not want to let Valentine's Day go by without some sort of celebration not that Joe and I really celebrated it....

We always made it more of a family celebration, giving the boys gifts instead of Joe and I exchanging gifts...

This picture did pop up on my FB memory feed of Joe making his famous lobster for the last time on Valentine's Day last year as we had a few tails left over from New Year's that we did not use....

 

I set a simple table for Joey and I.....

 

 

  

 I bought some mini Valentine's cupcakes for dessert....

 

 

 One of my late neighbor Elly's vintage Valentine's cards....


 Joey treats on Friday since I feed him dinner every night so he picked up 2 medium sized pizza pies from one of our favorite local places, Serpico's.....

 A sliced meatball topped one....


And one with mushrooms....
 


So we did enjoy a little Valentine's celebration.....
 
Let me also mention that Joey also pays for all my streaming services and buys all the drinks for my house ( Iced tea and gatorade) in appreciation for feeding him every day...

I will be sharing an everyday tablescape later on in this post....


Before I start my Home Tour, I again want to mention that since February is Heart Month, I will be leaving all my Valentine's decor up until the first week of March.....

This year, it will be easy to do because Easter is so late..... 

Not until April 20th......

So I feel no hurry to move on to Easter especially since it is still very much Winter here in the Northeast and it does not look like we will see it ending until probably the end of March as some of our best snow storms have taken place in March! 

We are expecting snow again today...

 And with that being said, I will start my annual Winter/Valentine's Home Tour.....

 

Winter Front Porch

 

 

Click HERE to see the entire post.....


The Living Room.... 


 

 

 

 

Tree # 1

 

 

Tree # 2 

 

 

To see the Living Room in more detail, please click HERE, HERE and HERE.... 

 

The Hallway....

I did not share this in my room by room posts... 

Again, this is a very narrow hall and the lighting stinks in regards to taking pictures....

I left out this Thomas Kinkade picture that I framed.....

A wreath I made a few years ago......


I hung a sign with a "B" on it, that Joe bought on Clearance, in the center....


I made the bow out of 2 different ribbons......
 
A red snowflake one and a black and white checked one with red cardinals on it....


Hanging beneath the wreath is another clearance item that Joe bought....


A black Valentine's truck.....

 

Sorry about the lighting.....
 
I also hung an evergreen swag with a bow made from the same 2 ribbons on the other side of the hall where my Family Gallery Wall is.....




 The Powder Room...

I made this wreath for the door of the Powder Room....

 


 

 

 Tree # 3

 

 

 

 

Click HERE to see the post on the Powder Room...



 The Kitchen

 

 

 

 Tree # 4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click HERE, HERE and HERE to see the Kitchen in detail....

 

The Den...

 

 

 



 

 

 


 

 

 Tree # 5


 

 

 

 

 Tree # 6

 

 

 

 

 Nelson Crest

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 Tree # 7

 

 

 Click HERE, HERE and HERE to see each post on the Den


The Dining Room....

 

 Tree # 8

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 Tree # 9


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Tree # 10

 

 

This is my everyday tablescape for now as we eat dinner in the Dining Room every day....




  

 

  Click HERE and HERE to see the individual posts on the Dining Room....

And there you have it.... 

Yes, I still have 10 decorated trees up!!!

I do have to admit that it took me much longer than usual to get this all done after Christmas ...

BUT...

I knew I had to give myself some GRACE as I tried to recover from what I thought would be a much easier Christmas season in the wake of Joe's passing...

It was harder than I thought it was going to be but we started some new traditions and made it through that first Christmas...

Just when I was starting to get my wits about me and started to get my decorating mojo back, my friend Anne Marie passed away...

I knew it was coming but it truly hit me like a ton of bricks....

And again, I really needed to take a break and give myself some GRACE....

Then my washer died and I purchased a new washer and dryer....

With getting ready for the delivery of those appliances and all that was involved, I again needed to pause for a bit....

GEESH!!

I finally got it all done and I am now totally enjoying the way my house looks....

For me, it is warm and cozy and I feel it wraps it's arms around me....

Which is what I need right now....

I hope you enjoyed this annual Tour....

 And I hope you will come back to visit again on MONDAY for my next post which I have no idea what it will be right now......

 Hope you will stop by to visit again on MONDAY...  

 
 Stay safe, healthy and most of all, HAPPY!!

Thanks to those who took the time out of their busy day to spend a little bit of time with me!!

If you do not have a blog, PLEASE  give me some way to reply to your comment, maybe by including your email in your comment.  If I can not find a way to reach you, I will reply on the post where you commented so please check back......


I am linking up to these parties:
 
 


  THURSDAY
 

    Please take some time to visit these terrific hosts and all those joining in on the fun!
 



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