SHEs Organized

I am cold in the house heat is on and 70 -72 * in here so I fired up the oven made muffins for the heat. H. Will enjoy them.
(I put on a sweat shirt. )
I was cold and went back to bed.
Journal & planning done. I got the latest batch of rocks done.
Thinking they will be good to take for gdgds grad. Party.

hi d nancy have fun today!

bathrooms done
upstairs home blessing done. I keep forgetting it doesn't take long.
I am not vacuuming the first floor on Saturday anymore. i need a day off lol

Morning y’all...

LadyM..there is plenty to do in NYC within walking distance... Rockefeller Center, St Patrick’s cathedral, NYC Library, Time Square, 9/11 Memory Pool, and the viewing of the Empire State Building..you can ride the ferry to the Statue of Liberty where a new museum has just opened.

Keep in mind the the city is very noisy and crowded with people walking aroundThis is the energy you hear people talking abt. It can be very overwhelming to people who are not used to this and that makes me think of your DS. Just being surrounded by buildings sontall that they block out the sun can take time getting used to for some people.

I love the city and was lucky to grow up close by, but I was always glad to go home by the end of the day.

Right now we, Sweetie, Willis and I, are watching Ceasar, the Dog Whisper. Love the show because I’m always learning new things abt dog behaviors.

Still need to water my sunnies. There’s laundry in my future and I need to dig out my office.

Waving to y’all.. I’m off to get my second cup of coffee

I do believe that I am packed, just waiting for dh to get home. I've done all of a.m. routine and I washed our towels and they are now in the dryer. I left towels out for dd, who will use our bedroom to be close to dMuffin. I have checked off everything on my packing list and my to do list for this a.m. Plants are watered. The sheets that were washed yesterday are folded for dcleaning lady on Friday.

LadyM, some NYC sites and thoughts:

-Statue of Liberty - you have to take a boat ride, which ds would also enjoy https://www.nps.gov/stli/index.htm
-Ellis Island can be done at the same time as the Statue of Liberty, as the boat makes a loop around. Of the two, I'd do the statue if you only have time for one.
-The lions at the NYC library for a photo op: https://www.nypl.org/help/about-nypl/library-lions
-a Broadway show, if time and the budget allows. "Oklahoma" might be a good choice, or there are several child friendly shows
-American Museum of Natural History - it is truly amazing. It was the site for the movie "Night at the Museum" too. It can be exhausting! https://www.amnh.org/
-I enjoyed the tenement museum but if you're going I would plan ahead and make a reservation. We got there early the day we went and it was mostly sold out.
-If you're interested in art the Metropolitan Museum of art is the one to see
-of course a walk in Central Park is free!

RR is right about the overstimulation too...very busy, noisy. I get tired of dodging people on the sidewalks...

Home from a successful alien building time with DGD7. She is beyond thrilled with her "daughter". She had to fill out a birth certificate for the newly created stuffy so now DGD7 considers herself a parent.

Kathryn, RR & Twins - Thank you! I'm doing cut/paste of your suggestions for NYC. I didn't think of how the noise level might affect DS10 with his sensory issues. I'll start the process of talking to him about it so it will become old news to him.

I made breakfast burritos this morning and they were a hit with everyone. They looked so good that I decide to eat one instead of my normal oatmeal.

DH has been launched to be with DMIL in the hospital.

I need to do some calendar updates for the summer reading program at the library. DS10 and DGD7 will be in different groups for the first time. That doubles my trips.

LadyM...NYC is extremely loud with taxis and a variety of vehicles blowing their horns along with medical and cop cars sirens added to the mix. It is constant and referred to as the “sounds of the city”.

Sidewalks are packed with people who care little abt the flow of foot traffic. Some think New Yorkers are rude, but I believe it’s just their way of dealing with the day to day chaos they have to endure. Riding the subway is an entirely different story. People are packed together on the waiting stations as well as the cars to ride in. Think the Game of sardines, especially during rush hour, which is usually the entire day.

I’m not sure you can prepare anyone for a day in New York City, especially for the first time, and you will need to keep DS very close at hand at all times.

I am looking forward to taking DS10 to NYC. I would be lying if I didn't admit to being a bit apprehensive about it because we are so clueless. But part of the adventure is stepping outside of our comfort zone.

Our weather forecast for today....yug. Reminding myself that it could be worse.
The storm switch is stuck to "on."
Isolated tornadoes, large hail and damaging winds will all be players again today, but it's that flooding risk that still remains extremely high. Storms could get going around 3 PM today with another cluster pushing across our area after sunset.

I'm making lunch for the kids. I haven't decided what I'll eat yet. I'm scoring a big ole D-on menu planning.

DS10 has 3 friends here this afternoon. They are playing outside taking advantage of the quiet before the storms start. They just came inside to get drinks and then went right back outside again.

LadyM: invest in ear plugs at the very least. Noise cancelling ear buds if they are in your budget. Neither will be visible. If he's willing to stand out, then noise cancelling ear phones.

Remember, I wear ear phones PLUS ear plugs at the same time to cancel out city noises at times. And that's just here in my little city. BUT if you do anything more than ear plugs, then keep him on a short leash because he won't have hearing as a sense to warn him about vehicles coming up from behind (like bikes or people on scooters.)

The police like to do 'show of force' with lots of cars racing by with sirens and lights flashing. This happens at least 2x a day in NYC so 1) you need to be aware that 15 cop cars going by doesn't mean another 9-11 is happening and 2) be prepared for the noise.

And not being able to see more than a small piece of the sky is why I don't spend more time in NYC. A week or two is my max. Central park or being on the water will give you a break from 'no sky' but in general it is something you didn't know you'd miss when you left home. Coming out of a subway station and not being able to get my bearings because I can't see the sun or any reliable shadows is discombobulating.

It is still one of my favourite places in the world, but it is an adjustment.

The balcony is done. I still need to mop the living room balcony but I got too tired so packed up. I moved some of my indoor plants outside. I was going to wait to do one but when I shifted it, I learned that was where all the fruit flies were coming from so out it went!

I don't know if I'll buy more plants or not. We'll see. At this point I'm still too depressed. And I won't be able to water them when I'm away in June so unless we have a lot of rain, they'll likely die then, so why bother? My houseplants won't need as much water although a few will have pop bottles attached to them like IV's to give them a chance of surviving.

The rain started 1 hour into the 2.5 hour process so I'm not sure if I was able to scrub the moss off the floor tiles since they are still wet from rain.

I haven't started on the bike. Dh has started on packing so keeps coming to ask for stuff. He is doing the free trial of Amazon Prime in order to get things by Monday. I had added to the order so he'd get free shipping but now I realize he paid for Prime so I didn't have to do that. I bought a set of sand toys for dgs to play with at the cottage.

I'm going to vacuum the living room and dining room and rearrange the remaining plants. By the time I finish that, it will be close to dinner time.