Monday Inspiration

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Dh went to take the truck back. I said I'd follow in about 5 - 10 minutes. Finished watching a video, dryer buzzed so I folded and put away that load, then started to get my boots and coat on. Dh walks in. Forgot the truck keys.

I still have to lace up boots so he heads off. I get them laced, put on hat and gloves and hear voices in the hall. Sure enough dh is still there waiting for an elevator along with a neighbour. She's late to exercise class but usually walks. It took us ages to convince her to take a ride from one of us. We were both driving right past the place so it wasn't a problem at all but she likes to walk if she can. We pointed out it was the elevator that made her late. But we now have to remember to add 5+ minutes to any errands requiring an elevator. Usually when 1 is out we don't notice it much but with 2 out the wait times are crazy.

Returning the truck took forever so I caught up with dh despite stopping at the store along the way. We got 15% off our next rental because the truck was so inconvenient.

Anyway, I suggested lunch at a nearby diner because dh hadn't yet had breakfast and we had a nice breakfast (second for me but I'll pass on lunch.) Then we did the grocery shopping and are now home. Thankfully the elevator came right away when our arms were full of the groceries.

I'm ready for a nap. May actually give in to one, I'm not sure. But first I have to move the sheets to the dryer and start the next load of laundry.

<long break>

This sat here for hours. Didn't nap. Probably should have!

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

One of the documents given to me yesterday was a list of tenants as of Dec. 2016. That's useful for me since I'm so terrible with names. But I already had that as part of the rent-increase documentation and nearly turned it down until the person handing it to me said it was special. She wasn't kidding.

It has the information I have PLUS the rent on every unit that is occupied. So now I know we are paying the second highest rent in the building. That's because I didn't take the 3 year lease offered when we moved in. I could have avoided 2 rent increases. But I didn't understand how the process worked back then. More importantly we wanted only a one year lease in case moving to the city or into an apartment was a mistake and we'd have to go back to being in the country or at least in a house. I didn't want to be locked in for 3 years. That hesitancy is costing us $3000 per year compared to our neighbours below us who moved in the same year but took the 3 year deal.

Dh and I have been having fun looking through the document and getting a sense of how much everyone is paying. The person paying more than us is really being robbed. He's on the 10th floor and has only 2 bedrooms (the space of my spare bedroom is actually an alcove in his living room). So fewer bedrooms and less view. Much less view. Of course, during times like this when the elevators are dodgy, he can walk up! (He also has a terrible stove, with no outlet in it and so his kitchen fuses are blowing all the time.)

[Elizabeth]

I just found out my daytime presence here is temporary. They did rollback the new firewall, but when the bugs are worked out, it will be turned back on, and I will not be able to post or read here during payroll. Bummer. My latest report is educational in the same way old cars are educational. I have learned a new SQL trick involving the VALUES clause. Right now, I am waiting for some information from a coworker.

The governor is talking about furloughing state workers. Just what I need - a smaller paycheck.

[Twins' Mom]

Oh I'm so sorry, Elizabeth! It's nice to have you check in during the day and I know it's a break for you to check in!

I must get up off my tushie and get busy. Setting timer for 7:30 and I'm off. I'm not discussing what I've done most of the day.

[Nancy]

The chicks are getting their first feathers. They are so-o cute. Dgd painted on a rock I drew a fish on this morning. We visited and painted, it was fun. Dd took the mags I was done with. Yea for decluttering this early in the week.
Just me here for a bit. Windy but nice out 62*.

Worked a bit more on the roots around the stump today before dinner.

[LadyMaverick]

I need a break. My go-to break place is here.

I am still arguing with myself both sides of letting DS8 sleep until he wakes up or has a set wake up time so we can start homeschool "on time". It seems wrong to let him get into the habit of sleeping late. It also seems wrong to not let his body get as much sleep as it needs. He will usually sleep 12-14 hours! DS8 starts his bedtime routine at 7pm and it is still broad daylight when he goes to bed. DGD5 has the same bedtime schedule as DS8 but she awakens most mornings before 6am. She only needs 8-10 hours of sleep.

I moved shopping for DS8 Easter clothes to Wednesday instead of this afternoon. I'll combine DS8 speech therapy and shopping trip and save myself 2 hours of driving time. That gave us an extra 2 hours of homeschool time today.

My part of the decorating at school was working with 4 other Moms to create five 8' tall pillars of balloons. This was my first experience doing that. I have a new appreciation of how much effort it takes to create them. One person used an air compressor to blow the 300 balloons up. She handed the balloon to another person who tied a knot in it. Then another lady and I tied the balloons together and wrapped them around a pole. A little funny.....we were using chairs to stand on to tie the balloons to the top 3' of the columns. After about 30 minutes of getting up/down and standing on chairs, an experienced lady arrived and told us it would be easier if we set the balloon columns on the floor and then we could stand on the stage and easily reach the top of the columns. Duh. That made it very simple to do the tops of the columns! ANYway, I think the balloon columns turned out great....but I would be perfectly happy to never make another one!

DD txt and asked to meet with me in the morning to "develop a plan". I have no clue what that means. I agree to meet her at the walking track at 8am tomorrow. Last week DD was considering pulling DGD5 out of public school and homeschool her. I wondered if DD was hinting for me to homeschooling DGD5. That is not an option I am willing to do. I told DD that if DS8 didn't have verbal Tourettes that he would be in public school instead of homeschooling. I also told DD that she would need a minimum of 25 hours a week one-on-one with DGD5 to be able to homeschool. I think that surprised DD how much time it would take. I hope pulling DGD5 out of school is not something DD is still considering.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Hmmm, the sleep thing is a conundrum, LadyM. I'd lean towards a set bedtime of 7 and up at 7. Too much sleep is also a sign of depression. I forget how much sleep an 8 year should get but I'm pretty sure it is less than 12 hours. Of course, his meds may also be contributing to this so I really don't know what to say except perhaps talk to his doctor.

I'm off to bed now. Dh is up at 4:50 tomorrow and I think I want him to sleep in with me (he was going to sleep in the spare room) so I need to get to bed.

See you tomorrow.

[lucylee]

(((LadyM))) Hope the "plan" goes well. I would say, as y'all are always telling me, "Stay strong!" -- but I have no doubt you WILl be strong.

And, just my two cents worth, but I would not worry about letting ds8 sleep a little later. Of course, y'all all know we are late sleepers here at my house, and that is NOT a good thing at times -- but OTOH, we are not going to bed when the sun is still out. I think I might go by what time he normally wakes up on his own. Say, if he sleeps 14 hours, even that would be 9:00 a.m. That's only one hour later than most school days begin anyway, and you can get through your lessons a lot faster than they can, so you've still got plenty time. Then I would set a regular waking time for him, but I wouldn't worry if it was later than I had originally thought we needed to start the day.
That way, if dgd is around, you'll have some one-on-one time with her before he gets started, and if she is not with you, you'll have some much needed time for YOU before the school day gets started.
* Kathryn is right -- this is a good topic to discuss with the doctor!

BTW -- I have really enjoyed all the discussion about rewards vs punishments and everything y'all have said lately on that subject.
I have to bite my tongue to avoid sharing too much with ds/ddil... and I certainly fell short on this procedure as a mother AND as a teacher. But I can definitely see the wisdom here.

Kathryn, your elevator situtation has me thinking about the crime scene tape over the elevator in Big Bang Theory. (Sorry if I am taking humor in your predicament.)

Awww, (((Elizabeth))) -- yes, we will miss you! Is there free wi-fi somewhere you can check in a few days a week or something?

Educational cars... Mine is not really "educational" (except to make it obvious that I need a back-up camera desperately!) -- Did I tell y'all I backed into the meter box at the hospital Saturday evening after I let dh out at the ER entrance? Yeah, this is the second time in a year or so, I think. No dent, but I left a lot of paint behind. * sheesh *

Waving to ALL of you!!! So glad to be back on a real keyboard!

[Nancy]

Web md recomended sleep -
http://www.webmd.com/parenting/guide/sleep-children

I am taking a break before I tackle the p m routine.
Dinner is over it was a hit h worked late glad I had a fast microwavable option.