Wonderful Wednesday Feb 1

[Nancy]

I slept well my ear is better and bs was great today yea! Glad to start out the new month with a good start! Breakfast burrittos for dinner was a hit last nite. I have payroll this afternoon. I need to attend to laundry today. Washer twins are going now.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Wonderful day here.

Warmer than yesterday, which was just unbelievably cold so I didn't step outside. Funny enough, ds (Mr. I don't turn on my heat because I don't want to pay the bill) complained the apartment was too cold (it was about 68 and I had on a heavy sweater.

Sun is shining, sort-of. We had snow overnight so it is sort-of overcast but enough light is getting through that I can see shadows.

Dgs and dd are coming over today.

I woke up to an email asking if I could preach in a BIG church on Feb. 12. Phoned the minister to say yes, but warned her about my losing my license and she checked and said that is fine. Woot! This is the city church I grew up in (and where we attend on the Sundays I'm not preaching out in the country or elsewhere.) I'm getting teary at the thought of preaching there. I've only been 'up front' there five times. My confirmation, my first wedding, my kids' baptisms and then once as a reader at the opening of the service. For the last bit, I had to come in during the week and practice over and over with the minister helping me because I was so shy.

Anyway, it is a wonderful day for me and I haven't even had breakfast yet!

Thank you all for the condolences. No word on when the service will be. I'm sure both it and visitation will be incredibly crowded. She was a wonderful woman in every regard - strong, loving, friendly, supportive, ever-present. As such, she will have touched thousands of people over her lifetime.

[LadyMaverick]

Sitting down to take a much needed break. Mentally I'm fine to keep going. Physically my body is weak from so many weeks of being sick & minimum activity. I'm doing more each day but it seems like slow progress.

This morning I hit the floor before 5 am and felt like my old self. I was full of energy and rip raring to go. I am grateful.

I have been non-stop busy all morning doing normal stuff plus a few extras.

** Tony's military headstone was delivered here. (Lilly asked if she could have it shipped to our home). I notified Lilly that it arrived and she immediately asked if it all correct. I haven't unboxed it yet (it is HEAVY).
** Lilly asked me to find out if Tony is buried in north or south plot. I'll ask the lady in charge of cemetery plots which one and get back to Lilly.
** A river delivery. I took a pause from daily use of collagen hydrolysate but decided to start again. It is an easy way to boost protein with zero taste in drink.
** Quick trip to local dollar store. *poof* There went $17.
** Set up a "mouth washing station". DS8 is going through a phase that every kid does. He is speaking in a manner to me that is not acceptable. I know other parents allow it, but I'm old fashioned enough to demand respectful words and tone.....or reap the consequences. I've thought of several different ways to correct this (and have tried a few of them) but it hasn't made enough impact to stop him. His mouth keeps getting him into trouble. I don't know if using soap to wash mouth out is acceptable corrective action in this day, but I remember my parents doing it to me. I went to the store to find a soap with minimum ingredients but everything has extra stuff added. I don't want to poison him! So, with no other idea of what to use I am going to try baking soda. Mixing baking soda with water and dipping the sponge in it for DS8 to wash his tongue when he speaks disrespectfully. The baking soda water should taste nasty to his tongue but be nonpoisonous if he happens to swallow a few drops.
** Instant pot is STUFFED full of rump roast. Yesterday the grocery store had it on sale for $1.99 a pound so I got a couple roast. After it is cooked I will package it into meal size portions and freeze them.
** DFriend delivered 18 dozen eggs here on her way to work. The eggs will be used at tonight's church meal.

[Twins' Mom]

LM, you have been busy, busy. I'm glad you are helping Lilly with Tony's stone. It was awhile after my dsis died before I could face it. I think that the stone is finally set - it sat at the cemetery awhile when there was bad weather. The next time I go by, I need to get out of the car and check it.

This time:
-lunch
-hang delicates from washer to dry
-finish transferring photos from iPad
-rehang picture in our bathroom
-rehang picture over bookcase (this was the one that came down and I had to have the glass replaced.... )

[Twins' Mom]

I'm trying for a wonderful attitude today but it's so hard. (whinny voice) My nose is runny and nasal passages feeling raw, and I'm still in a state about dh's comments, then this morning dd comments on how much time I have to myself.....

[Harmony]

(TwinsMom). We all deserve to have some time to ourselves without feeling guilty. I need to remember this for myself too.

It's a wonderful beautiful day here with pretty clear blue skies. It was cold this morning, we are running oven and little room heaters. Got everything warmed up. I should run the auto clean in the oven while it is chilly.

Got all my stuff ready to go last evening and we were out the door bright and early. Stressful, not knowing how trip would go to next town south, but turned out ok. We ran all our errands on the way back, quick stop at jobsite, 2 bank stops, dropped books at library, and put gas in near-empty gas tank.

[Ramblinrose]

Twins...I'm with the rest of the crowd...you deserve time to yourself and you certainly have earned it.

LadyM.. your story about soap had me laughing. When my son was around three he called me a bitch. Not sure where he got it from but it didn't matter

That began a life time of talking about "dirty words" which I referred to as "words that offend people"

After I got over the shock for that word coming out of my son's mouth I proceeded to ask him if he knew what the word meant. Course he had no idea. So I told him when people use words that offend others because they have no idea what they mean it makes the speaker look ignorant.

I then called my friend who's dog had just had puppies and asked it I could bring my son over to see them. I also informed her that I was going to educate my son concerning offensive words so not to embarrass her. When we got to her home I took my son to see the mama dogs and her pups. I pointed to the mama dog and said....this is a bitch, she is a female dog with two ears, eyes, tail and four legs. The ONLY time you may use the word Bitch is when you correctly see one. Otherwise people will think you are ignorant..... Then I pointed to the pups and found a male. I then said to my son....this is a son of a bitch, and unless you see a male pup it is the only time you may use that phrase.

He got the lesson.

As my son grew older he would, he would come to me and ask about what he now knew were "offensive" words. We would talk about their meanings and why they offended people. When the words shit and crap came up, I took him outside...cause we had dogs and I said. This is a pile of shit. You may NOT use this word unless you are trying to warn me about something I am going to step in. I repeated this with every word he would/could come up with.

Sometimes I really had to hold my breath because he could really come up with some duzzers, but again I calmly explained their true meaning, why they were offensive and why if he used them inappropriately it made him look ignorant. Once he got into a fight while at camp and when I went to pick him up the counselors told me about it. While on the way home, I asked him what the fight was about. He was 9 at the time and he told me his friends had called his girlfriend a hookie... a hookie I said, what is that...to which he replied he really didn't know but it offended him. I had to laugh at that one, and then had to go on to explain the real meaning of the word.

The only offensive word I had trouble justifying was the word bastard. To our generation and at least to me, that would qualify as an offensive word, but I don't think it does these days.

Once I was sure my son truly understood these offensive words, I started charging my son when he spoke inappropriately. He received a weekly allowance and I would make him pay me .25 cents on the spot and explain to me what he had done. Didn't take long for him to catch on to that lesson either.

[helia]

Peeking in quickly. The last 2 weeks have been top-heavy, with Mondays and Tuesdays being pretty much nonstop for me. That is because Monday I have Hebrew class @ 5, and I spend a couple hours doing translation work in the afternoon after I get home from work around 1:30. Because of Hebrew on Mondays, I've kicked my big weekly groc. store run to Tuesdays, making that day fuller. I've been exercising both days as well, so that takes about another 1.5 hours out of each afternoon. Add in payroll, extra payroll (editing essays, grading essays, and/or creating a quiz), and the bare minimum of keeping the house running -- and that's about all my time.

I'm not cuop-ing, but I do want to say that I've been very happy to see Dee back with us!
I'm sorry to hear about your postmistress, Kathryn.

The workers are not here today, so I'm enjoying a quiet empty house for a lovely change. We can't wait for them to be entirely finished. Things have really slowed down since Christmas.

I went to my 2nd barre class yesterday -- and boy, am I sore today! The barre classes seem to exercise muscles other than the ones I use for running. My shoulders are the most sore today. I'm going to try to go once a week as cross-training. That's what dh is doing too.

Things seem to be shaping up so I can go visit my parents this coming weekend! I'll try to get in a longer jog (6 miles) Saturday morning before I sit in the car driving for 6 hours in the afternoon.

Goals for today:
x 1. Finish grading essays
x 2. Payroll
3. Jog
4. DPCs
5. Progress on NY cards
6. Start grading writing final exams

I'm going to finish reclaiming the kitchen, get my DPCs done, and then head out for a 3 mile jog. That's my short distance now. We got snow last night, so it should be a pretty run, though the clouds have just shown up. Temps are still mild right now, a tad above freezing, about 36*. Tomorrow is supposed to be much colder with a high of 21*, closer to our usual temps for this time of year.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Wednesday!

[CathyS]

Hi everyone! I went to a shopping mall far away from home today and I just got home. Tonight we are having mac and cheese, so right now I am waiting for the water to boil for the macaroni.

[lucylee]

Ahhh... not quite WONDERFUL Wednesday, but at least dh & I are upright (and have been since before noon )
DH actually got up and went to the post office, and I thought he was feeling better, but no, he's not -- still exhausted, and today, in the battle between the racing heart and the slow-down meds, the heart seems to winning. Still waiting till Friday to call doctor for update/reassurance?

I've s/s baths, and I did my morning routines. No Nana-duty this week apparently. However -- NEXT week could involve approx a straight 36 hours Nana-duty! I'm not sure I'm up to that, but it is what it is. DS has to leave Wed. night, and ddil could be working Thurs morning/Thurs night/Fri morning. She normally has a break between morning and night jobs, a couple hours at home, but no longer. And she leaves around 5:00 a.m., so dgrands would be spending the night with us Wed & Thurs -- IF she is scheduled to work Thurs & Fri. Probably won't know till next week, though, so I'm not taking a lot of time to think about it now. It's just on my radar.

Thank you for your kind words, Harriet. I'm not accomplishing much today (meaning I am not vacuuming, which I feel I should be doing, and haven't touched my focus week for the kitchen, or last week's focus week of the computer room/office ) b/c I am just trying to keep things calm and quiet for dh. OTOH, I haven't asked him if the vacuum cleaner would bother him, so I may just be using him for an excuse. I need to s2s and make plans about whether or not to go to church tonight.