SUMPTUOUS SATURDAY

[DeeClutter]

At least it will be sumptuous in my little corner -today's our church's Smorgasbord. I have to make scalloped onions and fruit salad for 15 each. Think I've been stressing over the onions as they've been on my mind a lot for the past few weeks & especially this week. I have everything but I haven't made these 2 dishes in probably 30 years! Somehow I think I signed up for something different but I don't know what. Will have running around to do I'm afraid. We're not going to dinner until 5:30, have to pick up dgs18 around 4:30 and also have to have dishes to church before then. Let's see 15 miles, +20, +15, +15, +20, +15-think that equals 100. That will put us over 11,000 miles since I got home in April.

Had a new tire sensor installed yesterday. That little bitty thing was $96 +. I figured $8 Our friend only charged me $25 because he felt he was somewhat at fault.

Got up early as I realized I'd forgotten to make coffee for dh or put up his meds. He'd be clueless on the meds.

I'm finding myself somewhat concerned about my lab results showing a decrease in kidney function and finding myself wondering if it's reversible. Do know Dr advised against me taking any more ansaids such as a d v i l. Think I've lived on them for years. A1C was 7.7 -too high, but then I knew it would be. The good thing is that with consistent lower readings the next one should be right in the park.

Have a kazillion things on my mind for today and tomorrow. dh did say he doesn't think now we'll get away from here before Monday afternoon. As far as I'm concerned we're still ahead of the game with that. Someone did call him yesterday afternoon to find out when the water was being shut off -"about an hour ago". They weren't happy because they have done nothing toward closing. However an email went out about 2 weeks ago -they haven't checked their emails. The only ones left here are us and 1 motor home.

[Lilac]

Good morning Dee! Enjoy your church smorgasbord with your dfamily tonight!

I'm up after very little sleep. Gotta hit it.

[Twins' Mom]

Being home from a lovely trip is indeed sumptuous! Dh and I got in around 11 last night - flight was delayed from St. Thomas to ATL so later than expected and a long drive home in the rain.

Today it's back to business as usual. A b'nai mitzvah for four adult women at temple and the associated events. Dh and I are taking two cars so I can beg off of some afternoon activities. (I told him before we left that I wouldn't make it to all the events today, but he insisted that it would be fine - I need some "home" time today!)

Last morning in St. Thomas I woke up after dreaming about endless temple business....obviously my mind was dreading getting back to work there.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Dee, I'm taking a lot of a d v i l too and worry about kidney. I make note of when I open each bottle and try to get the 200 mg capsules instead of the 400s so that I take less that way. The daily dose on the bottle is only 1200 so I pay close attention to that as well. At Costco, it is hard to get the 200s (and they are so cheap there.) My goal is to take less than one a day. I'm probably averaging 3-200s over the past year which is depressing. And right now, I'm taking the full 1200 as per the doctor's orders for my jaw.

I can get by without it at night if I take melatonin but that doesn't stop pain, I just sleep through it. Then things happen like my jaw and I wonder if I'm grinding or clenching at night from the pain and so further damaging myself.

As my Ancient in California says, "growing old isn't for sissies."

I'm up and on the treadmill. I will only do 30 minutes because I plan on doing yard work and maybe even house work today. I got the bedroom level cleaned last night after choir and then went to bed with a very sore back (and was glad I was supposed to take pain pills for my jaw!)

Choir lasted 3 hours last night, 2 hours longer than we expected. I can't do the anthem on Sunday - I can't find my notes when the lead is added in. I can do fine with just dh and I singing a capella, but add in the music and the lead and I go either to the lead or to the bass but can't sing my notes. She suggested me trying the alto which is at least better in my range (I'm singing tenor for this which is at the bottom of my range and doesn't sound pleasant to me) but that would mean spending today learning the part and taking a chance I can do it tomorrow so I said no. I've spent 45 years singing melody and apparently I can't learn how to sing harmony.

There were four of us last night and there I could sing a bit of harmony because my notes were all in my range and I've been working on them for a while. Only one song is as a quartet, the remainder are all as part of a mass choir but the four of us have 'leader' personalities so she's teaching us how the anthems are to sound and hoping we'll be able to lead the others as they learn it. The mass choir is made up of 5 choirs from 3 churches over two villages. There will probably be 20 - 25 of us, which is a regular choir for most people but if you only have 3 or 4 in your regular church choir, 20 feels like a mass choir!

We've set another Friday night practice for the quartet next week and again the Friday before the performance. That should be enough since we sounded pretty darn good last night.

Now, to get off the treadmill and get my day going!

[helia]

Definitely a sumptuous Saturday here. There's NOTHING on the calendar! That is huge for us, and produces a very sumptuous feeling in me. I did my groc. shopping and jogging yesterday too so no need to do those errands today. Ds's first round of application essays are coming along; we had a dfriend who is an undergrad counselor at UM take a look at them. Very helpful. And a Sr. photo for the yearbook has been turned in. These OMM things are coming along, which is another sumptuous feeling.

I do need to spend today studying HEbrew - midterm is Wednesday. Laundry and some yard clean up should also happen. Dh and I are going out to eat downtown tonight; we've been struggling to find time to connect. He really has too much going on at work.

Oh, yes, dd13 is attending a friends' Bat Mitzvah today, but I'm not going, as much as I enjoy the services. I am not close to this friend and family. This does mean I will need to drive her around a little today and this evening. . . .

Enjoy your sumptuous Saturday, all!

[bittersweet]

Today should be a truly sumptuous day here! I plan to enjoy the fall weather (including the blustery 45mph winds that are forecast for later this morning), my new batch of kittens, and the completion of several long-delayed tasks at work! Then, I have three days off to get serious about some things around the house, including putting up a few Halloween decorations and buying some candy to hand out (we were going to more or less ignore the holiday this year, but now I have the day off, so........ )

I was going to ask your opinion on a news article I read this morning....

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/313471

Personally, I think it's somewhere about four steps beyond ridiculous, but I'm very much a traditionalist.

I suppose I'd better go answer a few emails and then look after the critters.

[Harmony]

Well, bittersweet, I'm going to step out on a limb here and risk everyone think I'm a bit off with this, but the halloween thing - it happens to be the one holiday I really don't like. I don't like the basis of it, the dark and macabre, and the way people get all carried away about dark and death, etc. So, thinking of it in this way, and thinking about how much Christmas stuff has been eliminated from schools and towns, maybe it's fair. And kids really don't need all that candy, anyway!

Stepping off soap box....

Our clouds and rain is sumptuous today. I'm loving this, except for yesterday's laundry which is still out trying to dry on the back porch. It's under the roof, but the humidity in the air kept it from drying.

Kathryn, I totally agree, aging isn't for sissies. Thursday eve. DH came in from working all day and went to bed at 7:00. It used to be about 8:00 when he worked. It's getting worse.

(Dee) all I can think is water water water and eat as healthily as you can.
Helia, a day off, yippee!
Twins, I'm glad you enjoyed your vacation.
Lilac, you sure are busy these days.

I did all my little desk chores this morning to close out the month. I'm going to look at my sewing project next (still on paper) until DH gets home with the car, then I need to go shop. I need to make 6 mini-quick bread loafs for gift baskets I need to take to church tomorrow morning.

[Harriet]

bittersweet, dd read the article with me and says that schools here have never done much about Halloween here. She doesn't see any difference recently. The closest they ever seem to come is a fall outdoor "fair" or fundraiser, but not at Halloween itself. Monday is an ordinary school day.

Dee, HRH's urologist preached to him that becoming dehydrated is the single hardest thing on the kidneys and staying hydrated makes them healthier all around. He said never be sorry you have to arise in the night to go to the bathroom, because he believes that is a good thing, showing that the kidneys had enough hydration to stay healthy that day and also that stones aren't being formed. He is the one who prescribes everyone a personal pitcher of water to be monitored themselves, to never let their guard down on intake. He likes it at the front of the refrigerator, he said, so HRH would have to move it to get to anything else, lol. And he is pretty intent on that 8-cups a day thing as a baseline, said if it is a hot day, or if a person gets sweaty, or for a large person, maybe more. I also think lowered protein intake helps function, but look that up because I don't personally know about that.

Grandma duty!

[helia]

Rambles, not particularly important: Halloween is my least favorite holiday, to be honest, for the reasons Harmonoy mentioned. However, years ago we did some thinking and decided to let our kids participate, but with controlled boundaries - only certain sorts of costumes and supervised trick-or-treating for many years. And they're done celebrating after middle school, my own personal thing. There are 2 things we discovered we actually like about the holiday: (1) When we first took tots trick-or-treating in TX, we got to introduce ourselves to several neighbors we had never spoken to before. Maybe we live in stodgy neighborhoods, but we've found it a way to connect with some neighbors, even if superficially. And (2) We have found Halloween to be a catalyst to get the creative juices flowing as the kids, dd13 in particular, have really gotten into designing and making their own costumes. Some of Dd13's most memorable costumes have been a giant Hershey's kiss and a kleenex box. This year, she is using her sewing machine to make an ice cream cone -- I'm not clear on the details, but I'll see soon. This sort of activity has led to Dd13's thinking of doing costume design for the annual middle school musical this winter, so I see that as a positive.

As for in schools, in TX, Halloween was completely absent. So was Cmas, Hanukkah, all other holidays. The elem. school ds attended had a fall festival party where kids could wear their costumes if they so wished. At our elem. school here, Halloween is a big deal; the kids have a parade around the neighborhood and parties in the afternoon, but I've always been very pleased and impressed by the number of nonscary, homemade creative costumes these neighborhood kids (and/or parents) think up. (The school has restriction on costumes.) But, we've also found teachers here will also let the other holidays in as well - if they come from the kids and their parents. So, in elem. schools here, there are parental presentations on traditional holiday celebrations. There are holiday writing assignments for which kids can choose religious topics - I remember ds did once, and I've seen classrooms decorated with kids' drawing of Cmas trees and dreidels. This depends on the specific teacher, of course and is limited to elem. school. I don't know which is better. We've experienced both. . .

Interesting question!

[DeeClutter]

Thanks for that info, Harriet. I'm sure I'm NOT drinking enough water so will make that a big priority. I'd gone through short bouts of it, but never made it top. 8 cups huh? Oh, yeah -64 oz. I knew that too.

Went over nearly 2 hours ago to turn on the heater in dd's MH (it was 36) so I can finish doing my Christmas wrap. Think I'm going to get my fruit salad made first and get the onions going. Have no idea why I'm so nervous about these. In 40+ years I think I've learned to cook.

Enjoy that Granny time Harriet -no doubt here that you will.