The Thrill is On Thursday

[Twins' Mom]

I almost can't believe it's 3 p.m. Mother did very well visiting the assisted living community and we put down a deposit and they were able to do their assessment that assisted living is appropriate for her. Talked to dbro a little about it when we came back through and broached the idea of me adopting the lab mix, altho I told him that I had not talked to dh about it yet. Dbro was very much in favor of me doing so.

I have called the doctor's office that comes to the house to see dmom about their paperwork. I'm hoping to email the scanned forms to them, since we are leaving at eight-something in the morning. They are to call me back.

And they just called back, so I am emailing paperwork. If their firewall blocks it I will need to drop if off on Monday.

I am headachy and going to try for a tiny nap. Has been a stressful day but I was actually surprised at how well mother managed.

[Sunny]

Hello to everyone! Today is a much nicer day with some clouds and lots of sunshine! Our grass is much greener and growing again!

I was awake about an hour before the alarm sounded this morning and couldn't fall back to sleep, so started my day early. Daily routine is done except to dry and put away one load of laundry. Ds was here yesterday afternoon and painted the woodwork in the bedroom hallway. Wouldn't let me help paint so I emptied the small shelf unit of family pictures and they are on dining room table, dusted and ready to pack in a box. Woodwork will get another coat of paint tomorrow when ds comes again.

Thinking of dsis today. Also thinking of Lucy and dmom.
Twins, hope all is going well with you and your dmom.
Lady M, Happy Birthing Day to you and Happy Birthday to your dd. (((DGD6))).
Feel better, Kathryn!
Hello to Helia and Blessedw2. Hope you both are having a wonderful day.
Good to see you, too, Harriet. Read about Sugar Gliders --- they look cuddly. I didn't realize they are in the possum family and only found in Aust., N Zealand, etc.
Dee, hope you find your mail quickly!

Today is our middle son's birthday; can't believe he is 43 y.o. Where have all those years gone? I enjoyed looking at his school pictures, wedding pictures and those of him and his two dear daughters today.

Tomorrow morning, dh has an appointment with the INR nurse and we'll stop on the way home for some groceries, etc.

Just heard the mail lady go down the street, so time to wander out and see what is in our mailbox......

[helia]

Oh, I wish I knew someone with a pet glider, Harriet! I'd LOVE to see one, especially to see it gliding in the house. How cool that must be.
Oh, sorry, lucylee. I misread an earlier post. ((HUGS)) and prayers for your dmom.
Elizabeth, was it you that mentioned a summer sewing class or camp or something for your DD15? I have to say, that is exactly what started dd19 down the path she's now taking in pursuing fashion design.

Thursday dinner tonight will just be myself, the kids, R, and tot J.

Dfriend RB emailed that she couldn't make it to Th. dinner but had kind of a flimsy excuse. We're a little concerned. She had asked us about living with us next year, and dh and I never had the time to thoroughly talk it over or to talk to her about it. And then dh was off to Japan and we're leaving for Canada about 40 hours after he steps off the plane from Japan. I guess RB has to re-sign her lease next week before we're back from our travels - but she didn't tell us the timeline. Anyhow, it's a bit of a relational bungle. I am open to it. Dh is more hesitant -- but we just never talked it through with her. Now, dh is concerned she's letting that affect our friendship. . . . Do I try to have coffee with her before we leave? How could I even do that as we have 2 days to finish getting our ducks in a row before we leave? Saturday is booked tightly as it is. Tomorrow is a slight possibility. . Hmmm...How much do I bend over backwards to try to see her face-to-face in the next 2 days?

Dd19 has a temporary job working at the local summer festival. She told the manager her schedule. He immediately scheduled her for 2 days she's not available. She emailed him back and got one switched, but she's still scheduled to work a night we'll be out of town. She's emailed him again. . . .

Somebody talked about babysitter rates. We paid our college student babysitters $10/hour back in the late 1990s - early 2000. High schoolers we paid slightly less. I imagine the rate today should be quite a bit higher than that. But maybe it's area-dependent too? I should ask dd21 what she's paid. Except, now she doesn't babysit much, occasionally tot J, and dfriend S is notorious for overpaying her.

I'm off now to the groc. store. It is after 3 and the only goal I've accomplished so far is my jog. My a.m. routine is done, though, and I did a couple extra tidying tasks around the house.

--distracted by dd19 sorting nostalgic items in a bin, including lots of photos in frames. We used to do that more. Hmm...

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Helia: is this something that could be done on the phone? Perhaps hearing voice is enough to gauge if there's a miscommunication or real hurt.

I'm home. Didn't buy many groceries. Planted the plants for dd because dgs was asleep when I arrived so we couldn't leave right away. He was charming with me as always.

I got the gps into the car with dsil's help. I tried to do it before leaving but it wasn't installed correctly. So I had him sit in the front seat and kept installing it and letting me decide if it was in my way or not.

After the grocery shopping was taken to his house and dd and dgs left, I dropped him at another store and we used the gps to get there. I'm feeling more positive about it than I was this morning. Specifically the lane drift is interesting. It never beeped when I changed lanes but did a few time when I was on the right side because the camera wasn't set to the middle so it thought my car was over farther than it was. There is also a stopped traffic in front and a traffic moving ahead of you (if you are stopped) audible warning and it warned me about changing speed limits and school zones. Both useful especially when you are in a strange place.

I still have no plan for dinner tonight except what salad to make. I just had another snack so that should tide me over for a little bit. Maybe burgers since we haven't had those for a while and dh makes fabulous burgers.

It turns out it wasn't our radiator filters that were being cleaned but our kitchen and bathroom vents. So there's a mess in those rooms, plus all the furniture is out of place for the radiators and that won't likely get done until next week.

[LadyMaverick]

Sunny - Happy Birthing Day! I forgot that we both have children born on this day. DD is 41 today.

Yesterday I made a trip to town by myself. Normally I am super focused and following a list. Yesterday I was more relaxed because I was by myself. One of my stops was to return some things to Sam's. When I walked past the computer display a sale caught my eye. I stopped and looked at it. A couple weeks ago I was planning to purchase a better laptop for DS8 for his online class. His current school laptop is bottom of the line processor and bare bones ram. It was cheap and adequate for what I thought he would need to do his school work. When I applied for enrollment for online class I realized my blunder. His laptop slow processor and minimum ram can't to run the software required for the class. So I started the process of looking for a new computer for his schoolwork. However, he didn't make the cut for enrollment so I stopped looking. I stood there in Sam's looking at the laptop and thinking it was a GREAT deal with top processor and adequate ram. It was same brand (dell) that I had recently researched and bought for the church so I was informed on prices and specs. Because I wasn't looking for a new laptop I couldn't make up my mind whether to get it or not. If I was going to buy a new laptop this was a great deal. What to do? I decided to buy it and bring home until I could decide. I knew I could take it back but if I didn't buy it then I might miss the great deal. I didn't open the box until this afternoon. That might not sound like much but I'm a techie toy junkie and I l-o-v-e new toys. After setting it up and using for the past couple of hours, I have decided to keep it. I am going to give DS8 my Lenova laptop to use for school. I really like this laptop even though it is twice as heavy as my Lenova. Getting signed into my online places has been slow because I use 2-step verification for extra security. Besides knowing the password, I have to also provide a code they send to my phone. And approve a new device to access the account. So it is really 3 step verification each time I set up email, calendar, dropbox and onedrive. DH doesn't have a laptop so I am going to move DS8 school laptop to him. DH watches youtube how-to repair type videos on his phone but it would be much easier to watch them on a laptop screen.

I need to stop playing with techie stuff and start cooking for tonight meal. Since I don't know how many will be here, I am keeping it simple and am going with a menu that I can quickly expand if need be. I am making a big pot of spaghetti and meat sauce. I have extra ingredients available so I can make another pot if needed. I also will be serving salad and a rotisserie chicken for the ones who want to stay away from heavy carbs. Dessert is cake, ice cream, whip cream and choice of fruit (several on hand and ready to serve). Simple and super easy.

[Sunny]

Oh, thanks, Lady M. I forgot, too, until I saw your post yesterday. Anyway, your dinner sounds good! Wishing you all a good time this evening.

[Harriet]

blessed, was it your dd's jaw for which she saw dentist?

We have a feeling of "letting someone down" about living arrangements, too, because my dcousin's dd who used to get in trouble with my older children as kids wanted somewhere for her 4-person young family to rent. I think somehow she got the idea that when ds moved out, of course we'd be at loose ends with my parents' house and she'd be the logical choice. Dstepson and ddil had not occurred to her. I'm sure she sees why we had already planned they could rent, but I hate that we couldn't do something to help her, too.

I wish I could orchestrate her need in relation to another part of the family's resource of a standing-empty house, but neither is any of my business. What am I, chief matchmaker? I'm sure they can see this for themselves, and there must be some hold-up I don't understand. Hmmm... .. maybe I'll tell ds. He manages to get into everybody's business and still be their great friend, somehow.

Was turned away/around by police tape across a road (yipes) on the way to errands, but know these roads well enough that it was a minor detour for me. Proud of myself that I remembered it on the way back and took a third route home for easiest travel. (It would have been just like me to absentmindedly try to return on the blocked way!) I was also happy at that moment that I knew dd was safely with the young man's family at a movie. Just couldn't get out of my mind that my impression of the bit of view I could see was a serious traffic accident must have happened - of course, it could have been anything!! Not a time to borrow trouble!!

Happy birthday to Sunny's son.

[Nancy]

So the boys are here their dad got an extra shift. The mom has a new job and will have evenings yea! but ten in the a. m . on weekends. Great hrs ans. Prayers actually.

We have rain here today.

[Twins' Mom]

Sounds like a yummy dinner, Lady M. Congrats to you and to Sunny on your birthing days!

I had a nice nap but woke up groggy. I'm having iced coffee - I hope it doesn't keep me up tonight. I need to get busy but I want to sit for a while first.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Just needed a song written in 1967. Lyrics are online but the music has been scrubbed because our province had the song rewritten for this year and puts only the new version online.

We are planning to use the original song as part of our Cross Canada set next week but needed the music for dh to find the chords. I found a reddit post of someone looking for it 2 months ago. He was sent to the University of Toronto's music library and he posted back that it was safely scanned and thanks. So I sent a note asking if he'd share the scan since we aren't in Toronto. Within 20 minutes, I had it.

There's an example of the internet working for good!

Dh is now at work in New Zealand. Dinner might be very late now that he's back at work there. Their day starts at 3 p.m. our day (but it is Friday morning there so we won't hear from them tomorrow or Saturday and then it will start up again on Sunday afternoon. Sigh.... I do miss the days when dh worked in NYC and DC since no time zones were involved!