SOOTHING SUNDAY

[Harriet]

Hi, I'm posting from another computer as HRH wants to work on mine. I've felt neked without internet until now.

I've cleaned off my desk surface completely and dusted, and there's a sheer surface there right now. The way HRH and dd admired it, I guess it's been a long time since that was done. We are desperately in need of a filing overhaul around here.

enjoy your nap, Indiana.

Dove, Thanks for the chicken soup. That was soothing.

[bittersweet]

Here's my soothing start to today (after sleeping in until after 10:30am!)

Most of you know that I have a 2 yr old semi-feral calico cat who has been part of our family since she was 8 weeks old. She was not socialized properly (entirely my fault), and it's only in the last 6 weeks or so that we've been able to pet her. Only sometimes...and only when she's on our bed (usually first thing in the morning is our most successful time). This morning, we experienced another major breakthrough. I woke up to find her sleeping near my legs. I said good morning to her, and reached over slowly to pet her back. As she remained calm, I began to scratch her ears and under her chin (this is almost never permitted). After a minute or so, I heard a small tentative sound that gradually grew in volume as I gently petted and scratched. You got it.....she was purring!!!!! I've only ever heard her purr once before, and that was when she was kneading a fleece blanket into a comfy bed. What an amazing start to my morning!

After that, I spent an hour on the phone with dMum - she found a fascinating and funny website last night, and was sharing it with me. We had a lot of laughs, which was SO needed after the nightmare that was payroll yesterday. Now I'm going to finish my coffee, then get a round done before heading out to take Miss Zsa-Zsa to the pet store. We're hoping she'll settle in there well enough to be put up for adoption. The rescue believes they have found an inside/outside home for Brutus and Trudy, so they may also be leaving in the next couple of weeks.

OK....first round -

- downstairs litter boxes
- upstairs litter boxes
- make bed
- swipe bathroom
- get dressed/take meds

DH has come down with a dreadful cold, so apparently he can't help with the housework today. Gee...wish I got a day off when I didn't feel well!

It's SO good to see Indiana posting again!!

[Emptynester]

OOPS! Nancy The reason we can't go to church or have TV is NOT because we are in the RV. It is my choice.

Our TV has worked great since 2002 until DH made a panic stop last winter and broke the dish. We could have gotten TV off the antenna but we don't have a digital TV set. I canceled the DISH service as I wanted to switch to Direct TV. I am now waiting until we get the house - all my choice. We have ALWAYS had TV until this May when I canceled it.

The reason we can't go to the church we want to is because it is in the town next to the new house - 60 miles from where we are now.

So those are NOT Cons for living in an RV.

Neighbor just brought us two cantaloupes from the fields near Wendon. About 15 miles away. They had a minimum of 2 CASES per purchase so he has been bringing them to all the neighbors.

Time to go pack another box. I am trying to pack one an hour. And I am several hours behind as I got caught up in changing emails and working on my blog. All I have left in the 5th wheel are dribbles and dabs. But they are harder as the only go in MISC. Boxes. And I don't want any of them. OH! Well!! Here goes.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

I drove 110 miles to church. Was trying to remember how far OK travels each week. It seems to me it was a very long distance.

The day went flawlessly. I got up in the morning and skipped exercising so that gave me time to get out without a rush. Including a load of laundry on the line.

The sun came out a little on the drive up so we had some lovely vistas of colour. The sun makes everything pop a bit more than when it is dull out and it has been dull for a long time.

My former minister has grown a beard and gained at least 40 pounds since I saw him last. My friend was sure to tease him about the beard. It is definitely not to my taste, too long. I was sorry I didn't have a camera with me because I would have loved to show dh what not to grow!

The service was very long, almost 2 hours and then another hour until we ate. But the music was wonderful and the stories from the former ministers were delightful. I had worried that I'd feel strange since this was more of a 'church family' service but everyone is so welcoming there. We were introduced at the banquet after and someone made the comment that if you show up for 3 services you get put on a committee. I pointed out that I'd be sure not to return since this was my third service with them!

The drive home was in the sun and had we not been so tired we might have taken a longer, more scenic, route, but we decided the most direct route was best.

Dh was outside taking a stab at the outside chores. He got the shade structure cover down and hung up on the line to dry. He also pulled in my laundry. Once I was there he could do ladder work so he got the gutter cleared and the rest of the threading of the cable from the antenna done.

Lucylee dh was up on the tower to finish the antenna install. When we first put it up he did a temporary job thinking we had to add a preamp but then we discovered we didn't need the preamp. He still had to climb up to fasten down the cable properly and feed it on the inside of the tower, rather than let it hang on the outside. Now it is out of sight because from the roof to ground it is surrounded by the vine that is growing up the tower. We still have to run the line into the house through the foundation but that isn't ladder work.

Dh is having chicken pot pie for dinner and I'll have cereal since I had my main meal of the day at lunch.

[Harmony]

Nice to read what everybody is doing. Sure nice to see Indiana up and about for a while.

We were at church early this morning. They have been changing the time back and forth, trying to stay ahead of parking problems. I had something to contribute to a gift basket, but completely forgot about it, brought it in when I went back to pickup DH.

While I was taking care of getting my gift contribution, I decided to look at something for DGS birthday coming up in a couple weeks. I did find something within 5 min. of looking, must be a record for getting bday gift, picked out a card, and my other gift and was outta there.

We didn't do anything the rest of the day except watch movies and eat. Soothing for sure. I did get the garbage and recycling out for tomorrow. I did some dishes too. Guess that's about it.

Kathryn, why did you go to a church 110 miles away? bittersweet, I'm glad your kitty is becoming tamer. I had feral kittens once, mother got killed on the road & we brought kitties inside. Boy did they hiss. But by a couple days they were fine. We played with them a lot and found them homes except for the one we kept.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Harmony: I was taking my friend up to see our former minister. It was his church's 125 anniversary so we knew the service would be full of music. He even played (something we weren't expecting since he would rather focus on ordained ministry even though he started as a church musician.) This is a particularly welcoming church so although we only had quick hugs and a few minutes chat with him, we enjoyed all our time there because of the wonderful people we met.

I'm exhausted, though, after 4 days of being away from home. I've driven over 400 miles in the past 4 days.

Dh said our regular church's service didn't go well. He was to do the anthem with our musician but she isn't used to singing with him while he's playing the autoharp so she couldn't manage to carry the melody against his base. I'll admit it can be hard (I was losing 1 line of the hymn when I practicing with him last night) but she'll learn if she has more practice with him. I think he should take the autoharp to choir practice rather than trying these things at the last minute. In the end, they abandoned the anthem and church was running late anyway so no-one minded.

[Harriet]

sometimes I have to see what you all have accomplished to remind me I've accomplished a little, too.

I also got a lot of trash and recyclables into the bins.

So much work on the detritus of the desk. You finally just get to the point the filing has slowed to a crawl and the remaining papers have no category. It's discouraging.

[OKay]

I had a lovely afternoon outside. I sat in the swing/shade to read my book and was so comfortable I read another chapter. Then I started working AGAIN on the garden layout.

I'm not the "sharpest knife in the drawer" for the method I am using to develop the layout. HOWEVER, I am receiving a good work-out so all is not lost. I've lost count how many times I have moved the 100+ bricks.....I'm fairly sure it is more than 5 times. Each time I position the the bricks where I think I want them......then I go away and come back hours later and it just doesn't look right. Soooooo....I start again. At one point I had it all laid out and like the arraignment, but then I remembered I didn't like garden rows running North/south, I want them east/west direction. Sooooo I started from scratch again! Moving 100+ blocks each time I change my mind. I freely admit that an efficient person would have developed the new garden lay-out on paper before ever starting. The good news is my back is in better shape than it has been in years. It is strong and I can do almost everything I attempt (I moved a 80+ lb rock by myself today!) My legs are strong to the point I can now do squats and get up without help (I used to have to use my hands to hold onto something to get up from a squat). Soooooo - I will have to practice efficiency on another project because this illogical method is allowing me to use muscles that I want to remain strong.

[Emptynester]

I are done for da day!! Or maybe that is I are done in for da day.

OKay: Keep up the strength as you will need it as you grow older. I have just been a couch potato too long.

I did get 7 more boxes packed - plus supervised DH in packing the cargo trailer. I should be able to finish in the morning and then get to cleaning. The 5th wheel isn't really dirty - just kinda dusty and I want it to sparkle. We might have someone coming out to look at it in a few days.

The daughter of the gentleman who lives across the street is moving to AZ from Alaska. She will have a traveling job so can live anywhere - so she might want our 5th wheel and maybe the lot.

DH is making chicken for dinner tonight. I'll make gravy to go over noodles and some veggie. Anything so I don't have to cook the whole meal.

[OKay]

RE: drive to church. It takes us about 30 minutes of driving to reach church. Most of it is country roads so it is limited how fast we can drive - even though we know every curve, intersection and pot hole location.

LO is soooo excited. LO has had a "thing" for playing the drums for months. He ABSOLUTELY loves them! The drummer worked with him a little bit after church showing him how to hold the sticks and several other tips. I asked his recommendation for beginning drum set and now know a place to get LO a drum pad (to practice rhythm). LO will be allowed to play it at church while sitting near the drummer on stage. I've never seen a kid so enthused about playing musical instruments. He also wants to play the piano and guitar. PERSONALLY....I really like the idea of piano and/or guitar instead of the drums because of the NOISE LEVEL involved. Thankfully the drum pad is fairly quiet so all should be well with our hearing .......for awhile.