Winter Wonderland Wed.

[Nancy]

Luckily I noticed it at noon in plenty of time to cook it for today's stew. It will be hard to top the turkey wrap I made for lunch. 23* out still smowing. I have fed the hens.

[Harmony]

It is chilly here in the house. DH let the fire go out. I think we should have gone another day with it. It will be in the 50's tonight. Remember, we don't usually run whole house heat.

We are at 6 days and counting. Closing is the 17th.

blessed, I hope your new helper is just wonderful and a big help to everyone. Crossing my fingers.

Thanks for sharing that, Lilac. Do they think he will make it?

Hard day, I worked on the one last big project for the year all day. It was a $50,000 file, which turned into a 3-page spreadsheet. It doesn't sound like much, but boy I am burned out now. Still have a couple more forms to fill out for that. I have everything I need for our taxes, but have decided to wait for the official closing statement from the 2H sale. CPA will be better able to tell us about next year's taxes and estimated payments in 2017. I hope they won't be astronomical.

Harriet, what a good report from your dr., you must be so happy. I never get "good job" from my Dr. Even when I did lose a bunch of weight I got no credit for it. She only seems to find the things I need to fix and focuses on those. I really wish I could find a dr. I liked better.

Gotta go do dishes now.

[Lilac]

Harmony, they are optimistic that he will recover but he is going to have to make changes. He eats too much, drinks, smokes, doesn't exercise. His wife is an alcoholic and their grown dd and her 3 kids live with them. The 2 oldest are teenagers now. I hope he can turn this around and put in the effort it is going to take. I feel like he has a second chance that a lot of people don't get, so I hate to see that wasted.

[blessedw2]

good night.. finally home! I really like the new helper!

[CathyS]

Dh and I just got home from swimming. I told him I would be going into the gym to go on a bike for a while before I went up to the pool. I went into the regular pool first when I went upstairs and then I joined him in the hot tub. He went from hot tub to pool to hot tub to pool and back into the hot tub with me for a while. I had a hot shower before we came home.

We had grilled cheese, leftover chicken from last night and tomato soup for supper.

[Harriet]

Harmony, this lady is a specialist for hormonal needs such as thyroid, the reason I went to their practice in the first place. So I would suppose it is much more on her "radar" to watch weight and to know that good changes should be brought up. I did appreciate knowing exactly what her records showed.

I'd also agree with you about your comments to LadyM last night. We don't often have the luxury of doctors who are listening and interested in our own plans and ideas for our health or our family's. There is a disconnect there, many times. It's going to have to change. The internet exists, people learn, information is available. Patients will all become more invested in their own health decisions; it's just inevitable.

Lilac, I sure am glad to hear that medical care was available for him! Thank goodness - he almost waited way too long.

As of this evening my ear is pain free and I feel somewhat foolish learning that a simple decongestant could help something like that so much. I remember a lot about ear infections in children. Not much about the concept that when sniffles block eustachian tubes, it's a decongestant, not an antihistamine, for relief.

The young man's parents had a scare through this afternoon and evening when, for hours, they couldn't reach him by phone or text. They knew he was expecting their planned call, so they got worried. His best school friend is away. They were also convinced he wouldn't be in his dorm room because of what he'd told them about probably taking their call while out all day. They had no one to call in his dorm anyway. They were considering calling campus security but had also called dd. She was sure she could speed through a search at a run, and spot him faster in the dark if needed, so I drove while she texted in case the parents heard from him.

Dd scoured his cafeteria/student union for him, but no luck there. Then I waited in the "getaway car" as she wore her incorrect I.D. card to blend in to a teen crowd in the dark, followed behind strangers who opened the building's door with their code, and found him right in his dorm. He had no idea his phone had stopped receiving and was only calling - he didn't think he was having any trouble with it. He was very apologetic to me and embarrassed. All's well that ends well. Now his parents have the phone numbers of both his roommate and a neighbor, which he really should have given them already but just hadn't thought.

[Lilac]

Wow that was scary Harriet! But it showed your dd18 what it's like to not be able to reach someone and how scary that is. I am so glad everything turned out. He sounds like a really nice young man.

I have almost every thing Christmas put away. I still need to wash the tablecloths. I used placemats, so hopefully there aren't any stains.

I can not find the sack that has the extra lights in it. Plus I have plastic things to wrap the light strands around in there. I'll look again in the morning, maybe I just missed them somehow. Dh is asleep so I don't want to start searching and making noise.

The bug guy (dgd20's bf) called to see about spraying tomorrow at 10:30. Really don't want to mess with it but might as well get it over with. So I am trying to get the house presentable, even if it isn't freshly cleaned.

Didn't end up having to watch the kids, while dd2 took dgs12 shopping. Just as I was getting ready to leave, she called and her dh was home. He has been busy at the farm, trying to get everything ready for this coming ice.