Wednesday

[Lilac]

Couldn't think of anything appropriate to use, so went with the obvious.

[Lilac]

Okay, you and your dfamily will be in my thoughts and prayers today. The tribute you wrote about your brother was beautiful. I don't think that you have wrote too much about losing your dbrother. I think that you have just been an excellent example to all of us on how important it is to keep on, keeping on during a family death. You are such a blessing to your family and friends, as well as your family in this village. I have felt like you have honored your dbrother by doing what he would have wanted you to do for your parents and your family, as you continued with your holiday plans as you grieved. I think an amazing job has been done of covering all the bases for your ddad and dmom, as they face the day a parent never wants to experience.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Good morning all!

I'm moving slowly today but I'm up and my stomach is steady so I'm having my tea and chocolate under my SAD light (which upsets my tummy on the best of days because it is so strong.)

I didn't go to bed until midnight since I had slept so much through the day and I woke up at 7 but didn't get out of bed until 8:45. Watched tv in between since the radio morning show was lame.

Dh has already shoveled and just finished his time on the bike. Dd is on the treadmill now. I think I'll pass on it for today but maybe go for a walk outside once the snow stops. It is blustery outside now, about 3-4" down and another 1 - 2" to come.

My plan for today is to do the weekly Monday and Tuesday chores, plus clean the bathrooms. I also have to finish the charitable donations but those are done online.

The kitchen floor is still sticky, despite dh washing it yesterday, so I might send him off to do an errand and then damp mop it while he's away (I'd hate for him to think I'm correcting his work because I could hear the floor being washed yesterday while I was lying in bed and it was a real relief to know it wasn't going to get any dirtier since it was really awful after the party or that I was going to have to deal with it when I got better.)

Lucylee: you confused me yesterday:

However, in my family, I remember so many home visitations, and I -- and other children -- were always in attendance. (Do y'all remember that, too, or is it just a regional thing? Bringing the deceased to someone's house for the visitation, I mean. I think the last time I attended one was in the very early 80s.)

I don't understand, but reading this, it sounds like the body went visiting or was it just the family of the deceased going off to visit? Around here, the social practice is to have visitation at the funeral home but when my sister died, my dbil had the visitation at their home and people expected the body to be there too (it wasn't.)

The advantage of that is that when things got overwhelming, we'd go back to the kitchen and get a glass of gingerale or up to the playroom and visit with the children playing video games and I began to realize that it was a good tradition that has been lost. It also cut down on people dropping over unexpectedly, they just came during visitation hours. On the down side, we had to have someone 'housesit' during the funeral because the address had been published in the paper and we heard that robbers sometimes hit the homes of deceased during the funeral.

[helia]

Popping in here quickly. . .

((OK)) I'm so sorry about the loss of your brother.

We're having a lovely low key week. Ds needs to finish college apps this week. Dd16 has a friend sleeping over right now, and is going to another friend's home for a sleepover tomorrow night. Dd13 is spending time sewing and writing stories. Dh is limiting his time working. He knows he is a workaholic. LOL! I need to finish the New Year's letter and get our cards and letters out. I would also like to work on decluttering dkids bedrooms. It feels like a luxury to have 2 weeks off, although the University here starts up next week, and I'll be doing Hebrew homework before then as I assume the first class, we'll launch into translating where we left off last semester.

We went to see Tintin yesterday. Dh and I (and our kids too!) grew up reading Tintin. It was a minor miracle that dd13 would step foot in the movie theater -- and without a pile of books and her ipod, which she had with her last time she went. That was to see Up 2? years ago. She does not like movies at all, especially in movie theaters. We enjoyed the movie and laughed very hard at a couple spots.

Have a great day all!

[Harriet]

Dragging myself around this a.m. Continued to get worse and worse yesterday to the point that I couldn't travel out with dd33 at all and she and dsil ended up bringing me supper. I believe this is just an amazing cold. Dsil says the symptoms (sinus pain, runny nose and sneezing) are like those he and children had a week ago and it's possible they gave it to me. I don't have the sore throat he says they had. HRH and dd13, so far, are fine. But dd33 seems to either be going back into it or starting it in earnest for the first time - not sure.

Let's just say I'm glad I bought an extra tissue box at the grocery. I have been taking the Zicam melts.

Oops, just heard dd13 sneeze.

helia, I'm glad dd13 had a good time and I hope your day decluttering the kids' bedrooms is a big success.

OKay, you haven't chatted too much about this at all.

lucylee, I think by the time I came along here, visitations that included the body lying in state in the home were pretty much over, and if a visitation happened at the home, it was exclusively an invitation to be with the family, not view the body. This may have been because of a new funeral home built in the closest town about a decade before my birth. Everyone started using that one for visitations after its construction. Now it seems small compared to the new ones.

HRH has the kitchen looking very nice. I will wander around and see if I'm up to par.

[Twins' Mom]

Hummmm. Have already exchanged emails with the temple secretary this morning - the tone of her emails is sounding completely irate but I don't think she intended it. The truth is that I've just been vegging out lately about the temple and work and life in general. Now I'm ready to start flailing myself because I've wasted so much time since being off of work.

Okay, enough. I've wasted enough time for today. Here's my OMM list for now:
-pick up listing of HRT scripts from pharmacy
-take dd's computer to my office
-submit the HRT for health care reimbursement
-do one measly hour of CPE to complete my 80 (in two yr) requirement
-send out email re: no board meeting tonight (this, I just did)
-routines, dailies
-paper decluttering
-craft area straighten and declutter
-call hotel from biennial re: stuff left in room not rec'd yet

First round:
-kitchen counters
-reboot laundry
-s2s
-make bed
-get rid of 10 pieces of paper

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Finished Monday and Tuesday weeklies. I'm worn out now so will take a rest.

Tuesday chores are to deeper clean the kitchen. Just finished as dd started to make her giant lunch so it is being messed up again. Sigh....

Food still holds no appeal to me.

I posted our family Christmas picture in Members Only: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2173

[Indiana]

Norma Happy Anniversary to you and your DH.

[Harmony]

NORMA and DH, Happy Anniversary! I'm glad someone here remembers to look at our calendar! Harriet, hope you get better quickly.

So, middle of the week Wednesday, and I am slogging along per usual. Big desk day with stuff that takes forever to sort out, charge bills and the policies came for truck insurance which takes a while to go through, copy the cards for all the trucks, etc. etc. I am almost through with all that. Was a shock, all the big stuff came at once. Charge bill had all the brake parts and new tires for Explorer (Yikes!) and chemicals for lawn which will last 6 months (another Yikes!) and extra gas from Thanksgiving trip... just when I thought we were doing ok..

Anyway, most of all that is done. 1 LOL hanging up outside. It is chilly today, was in the 50's when I got up, now in high 60's. Cool air feels good.

I do not remember going to any home visits for funerals, though the trend now is to have memorial services in churches with or without casket there. I remember as a very little girl being asked to kiss the cheek of great uncle, and I remember him being like cold marble...ewww I would never do that to a little one. And I sat at funeral home for DGF one day. I did not know this GF and remember it as something I just had to do. But I am a bit stoic about things like this, it's just part of life, and I might miss the person and think about them, but realize we can't stop death by just not liking it. I do NOT like an open viewing and have forbidden DKids to do that to me. I never see anyone who looks peaceful and "good" to me, they just look dead!

I've cleaned up kitchen also. Going to see what else I can get done.

[Twins' Mom]

I'm just now heading upstairs for s2s but have been paper decluttering like crazy....once I get going I want to keep on. Maybe just a few more minutes?