Tinkering Tuesday

[Sadie]

Checking in with all of you.

Have whittled my weeklies down to 5 things left.

Should be able to work them in over the next three days and go to work in the afternoons. It's been awhile since I've done all my weeklies so they are taking awhile and some of the things I just putter at it for awhile and cross it off as done for the week.

DH has headed out with a friend to go Iphone shopping for friend.

Thinking I might reward myself for working and read for a bit.

Waving to all!

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

I keep thinking I have lots of time and I don't. Christmas is starting to weigh heavily on my mind.

We did the singing at the seniors' luncheon which was fun.

Then we went into the suburbs and 1) bought a blu ray player and 2) got $33 back on the TV purchase due to price matching (I bought it, knowingly, from the more expensive place because I could price match.) Then we bought our Christmas turkey (I'm doing the simple pre-stuffed one because the 25th is so busy), some ground beef and some cheese and I was able to use my points to get all that for $5.

On to the next store where I found something dd wanted and from there to another store where we got a few more things (and cut that bill to $5 as well by using points.) Finally I got soft drinks for the season on a deep sale. It was cheaper to buy cases of drinks than to buy the soda in 2 liter bottles. Plus, the soda won't go flat when I open up a bottle and I won't have to store it in the fridge. Bonuses all around on this.

Dh is setting up the new blu ray player right now. It is very complicated because it has wifi but when it is all connected up, he'll be able to control it using his phone! This seems to be a good thing....

Dinner is almost ready. I'll be having my pork stew with salad, dh with rice. Dh asked that I make up my easy version of his mother's stew rather than my super easy pork stew that I invented a couple of months ago. His mom's regular pork stew takes hours to make. I have it down to 25 minutes (plus slow-cooker time). My super easy meat and potato stew only takes 10 minutes to get into the crock pot but dh wanted the more complicated one. He'd rather we alternated but I'm not sure that will happen given the differences in prep time. Maybe a 2:1 ratio.

I need to clean out the freezer tonight because it is full to the brim. Our temperature is still not solidly below freezing so I have to keep things like the suet for the birds in the freezer or else it will go rancid before we use it up. That, plus some ironing, is taking up room that I need at this time of the year.

[Lilac]

Went to dd2 to get boxes and the house looked beautiful and clean. I complimented her on how nice it looked. It was her hope that she would get her house under control after they moved. Hopefully she will stay on top of it, knowing how hard it was to do it in a pinch. She said dgd15 never even thanked her for the slumber party.

Found out today, TODAY that the 3 older ones have a choir concert tonight. I absolutely don't have time to go, so I won't and will try not to feel guilty. Why do we do that to ourselves?

I have the bottoms of both hutches packed and loaded in the car. I plan on taking the stuff in drawers, as is over to the house and stacking them.

[Twins' Mom]

I'm 90% packed, and most of the rest needs to be packed in the morning. My common color is black - wearing black pants tomorrow, packing herringbone black and white pants and a hounds tooth plaid skirt, a black jacket and some sweaters in colors. I'm listening to some of the music that will be sung on Friday night and Saturday morning services.

[Elizabeth]

More crazy days in Elizabeth-land. In 20 min, I leave payroll, taking my computer with me in case the snow hits bad tomorrow and DD is not in school. I will be picking up DD, picking up donations at church, feeding XDH's dog, Chinese food for dinner, homework with DD9, cook pork chops for DD's lunch box tomorrow, put DD's Dragon Singers uniform in car for tomorrow, and make sure both DD and I get showered and in bed. Oh, and this is also Girls' Night Out, so I also will probably be fitting in a trip to Chuck E Cheese. YIKES!!!

Tomorrow, is yet another crazy day from lunch on. Over lunch, I need to deliver the church donations, then DD has a dentist appointment, I have to get her fed and be on time for her Dragon Singers performance. Fortunately, XDH is going to be back in town in time to go to the performance (unless planes are delayed). I don't feel sorry for him having to do crazy scheduling. He chose to be divorced and wanted primary custody, so any craziness, he brought on himself.

[Lilac]

Well we dinked around so long on deciding to bundle our cable, internet and phone, that it won't be hooked up until the 21st. Grr... That is 2 days next week I will be tied up and won't be able to shop. Grr... It's not the end of the world, it's not the end of the world...............................I have been on the phone almost an hour and then since we are changing companies but not phone number they have to talk to dh. He is at the other house. The gal was supposed to call him, then call me back so I will know it is a done deal.Grrr....I told him we needed to make a decision and he kept putting it off. She called so now I need to haul a load to the house.....

[bittersweet]

I've apparently missed something over the years. Kathryn keeps her ironing in the freezer?? And then we have Harriet washing $3 bills with her jeans? Is this a new currency I haven't heard of?? Elizabeth is feeding Chinese food to her XDH's dog?

I ended up caving this afternoon and napping for a couple of hours, courtesy of Miss Purring Penelope. There were other things I really wanted/needed to do, but just could NOT get myself moving on only four hours of sleep, especially after the big grocery shopping trip.

Supper tonight will be sloppy joes, and I'll get a couple of loads of laundry done in and around the sewing. We may or may not watch the next HP movie; it might be easier to wait until we're both off next week.

All the kittens and I did make it to the vet this morning. It seems the six are older than we'd originally thought, so the two boys - Rhemus and Andy - will be going in next week to be neutered. After that, we'll schedule Jiggs and the other girls to be spayed, then all seven of them can go up for adoption after the new year. Herman had to stay at the vet's for a few days, though - he has the runs, and although they've gotten somewhat better, the vet is concerned. Tests indicated he doesn't have worms, so she wants to keep him on antibiotics for a couple of days to see if things improve.

And now for my most frustrating experience of the day A couple of weeks ago, I ordered a Christmas present online for DGS. The only place I could find what I was looking for was at L*go.com, so I whipped out my handy dandy credit card and placed the order. That part went fine. Then it gave me a tracking number for F*dEx. Over the next few days I watched it make its way across the continent. Finally - last Friday - it arrived in my city. The first day they tried to deliver it, they couldn't find my address. The next business day (yesterday), they were "unable to locate recipient". OK guys...it's not THAT hard to find me!! I called them, and gave VERY explicit directions on how to find my place, that I was assured would be sent to the local facility, and my parcel should be delivered the next day (today). Late this afternoon, I checked online, and it said "Delivered. Left on front step. Signature Service not requested." Yayyyyyyy!!! I dash to the front door, only to find an empty doorstep! The time stamp on the website indicated it had been delivered less than 15 minutes previously, so it was highly unlikely a neighbourhood kid had made off with the package. I decided to take a walk around the complex to see if, by chance, they had left it at the wrong townhouse. Quite how they could mistake another number for mine was a mystery - each unity is clearly marked with black numbers almost 5" high! However.....I started walking, and yep...sure enough....they'd delivered it to the wrong place!! The other place has the same last number, but the first number is obviously not the same! Once I got the parcel safely home, I called F*dEx and filed a formal complaint. Honestly.....it takes them THREE days to find the place (and only then after I give them directions!!), and then they drop it off at the wrong house? ARRRGGGHHH!!! All's well that ends well, though...DGS has his L*go for Christmas!
</rant>

Now I'd better get off my behinder, start some laundry, get supper on, and do some sewing.

[Sunny]

Hello Everyone! I have finally read through posts since the last time I was here. So much going on and everyone very busy getting it all done.

Dson#2 stopped here on his way home from work yesterday and pulled the box with Christmas tree and the bins with decorations down for us. I moved the furniture in living room and cleaned all the nooks and corners. We got the tree put together and this morning we trimmed it and put some other decorations out. It's a 7 ft. pre lit - all white lights - and looks really pretty. I have a small 2 ft tree decorated with colored lights and small ornaments on the buffet in the dining room; looks cute there. On top of the entertainment center is our village houses and angels. The houses are mostly tea light holders, pretty when lit. That's all this year, no lights on the house outside.

Dee and Twins both traveling....both of you have a safe trips!

MT, hope Mr. MT has good tests and doesn't have to cancel procedure on his hand.

OKay, I know you're enjoying your dgchildren; I'm glad your ddil is recovering well. LOL at all the "alarms"!

Lilac, you are doing so well with your moving and getting your new house set up. I'll bet things will settle down and get easier when it's all done and you are settled in.

Oh, I meant to tell Avadavis that a tradition of family weddings in Martha's Vineyard sounds very lovely!

Kathryn, you gave Lilac some good advice today!

Well, I know there is a lot more I should respond to, however, the words are all stuck in my brain and can't get to my fingers!
Dh has an appointment with the surgeon tomorrow morning to have the stitches and splints removed from his nose. I guess we'll get to see if it looks the same as before! I'm thinking about that now. Dh is still getting better and stronger. I know all your good thoughts and prayers have helped. A home health nurse comes twice a week for check up and phys therapy nurse twice a week to work with him.

Well, I know there is a lot more I should respond to, however, the words are all stuck in my brain and can't get to my fingers! I'll probably have to sign in again to get this posted.

[Nancy]

Well h. is home hurting hands that are swollen, back of his knee is swollen again and it's hard for him to get around. Left over soup was a great idea today I even precooked lean turkey sausage patties this morning when I had mine for breakfast.

I got some down time today and did some knitting down stairs so I would not mess up the house. I mixed up a trail mixture that I like to add to cookies when I do up the next batch I'm going to try some roll up inside and slice them like cinnamon rolls just for fun.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Bittersweet: yes, I keep my ironing in the freezer. Just linens, not things we wear! I got this tip from somewhere and find it very useful. I have my grandmother's antique table that is 54" wide, not the current norm of 48". So there are no modern, easy-care, tablecloths that fit the table. On the other hand, the antique linen tablecloths that came from my grandmother's do fit her table.

So the tablecloth gets cold water washed (after spot treating) after each major meal. Then I roll it up along with the napkins and pop them, damp, into the freezer. They stay there until the next time I need them. I iron them after letting them defrost a bit. Even after 8 months they'll still be damp and so I don't need to use as much steam. After ironing, they often go straight onto the table, so it means I don't have to find a way to keep them wrinkle free.

Since I'm not quite ready for the table to be set for Christmas, I'll try and put off the ironing for as long as possible (the big cloths take about 45 to an hour to iron so this is a major chunk of time.

I have one 'modern' cloth that doesn't need ironing because it is a lacy weave that my dmil had made for my table. It only fits the fully open table and is 16' long so I'm always relieved when I don't have to wash it since finding a place to hang it to dry in the winter is hard. We kept it clean on Sunday so it only needed a spot cleaning before putting it away.

Dh hooked up the new blu ray player and we watched Barney's Version. Had I known the whole story, I would not have rented it. Very powerful movie but I was left sobbing at the end because it hit far too close to home for me.

Edited to add: finished cleaning out the freezer. Still have room for everything but it is packed. Found a second turkey (but too big for 4 of us) and a second box of meatballs, both unexpected finds. I've updated my list and checked it against my meal plan for the month. I will not be buying any meat or frozen fruit between now and the New Year. Only milk and fresh veggies (except for the ground pork to make dh's egg rolls for Boxing Day.)