Toot Your Horn Thursday

[Harmony]

What did I accomplish today so far: I got the sheets from DGSon washed ready to hang. I got yesterday's paperwork snafu off my desk and organized on the dining room table so we could work on it properly. Yesterday I pulled up the piano bench and DH's chair and we tried to work on it (think piles and piles of papers, a bankers box of files and large surveys). I say snafu because we've discovered the HUD laws (which also apply to VA loans) are different than our county/state regulations. The engineer is now having to move the well farther away from the house and that means new survey/site plans. So now we wait. This process with the VA is ridiculous. The engineer couldn't believe we hadn't built this house by now.

So... with those 2 things done... and not much else... what's next: I can't really think. Oh, prep for dinner.

Talked with DGSon on the phone. Happy belated birthday to Harriet's DD. I've been reading her accomplishments with interest. My DGSon is 1 year behind her and beginning this "adult" journey. He turned 18 2 months ago and leaves for college tomorrow. He will be 6 hours from us and 4 1/2 hours from his hometown. DD has been busy gathering up supplies for his apartment and he tells me he's spending time saying goodbye to all his friends. They had a special "goodbye" for him at his youth group and he says he cried.

While he was here we spent many hours late at night while he told me all about his friends, and his values, and his hopes and dreams. I see great things in his future, at the very least a happy life. (she says hopefully).

[LadyMaverick]

Taking a break and eating lunch.

DS9 attitude has needed to be adjusted a couple times today. As an older experienced Mom, I don't put up with much. I demand to be shown respect in all ways. I sometimes worry about being too strict on DS9 but then I remember my biggest regret with raising my older kids. I regret not letting them reap the consequences of their choices. I rescue them often when they were young and "saved" them from their choice. Once that habit of "saving them" was established, it went on and on. For example - they chose to put their dirty clothes under the bed instead of dirty clothes hamper.....I would notice their clothes were missing when I did the laundry and go find them. If I had let them run out of clean clothes and reap the consequences of that decision I suspect it would have only taken a time or two for them to make a better choice.

Today I told DS9 to bring me the clipboard containing his Math homework from yesterday. He had 30 minutes to finish that homework and was supposedly working on it in the Fun Room. After he finished his homework, then he could use the remaining time to play Minecraft. Guess what? He only did 3 out of the 15 problems and then he used the rest of the time to play. So today he had all screens put into time-out and he had to do the homework twice. He had to write/answer the 15 problems twice instead of only once. Yes, I should have checked that he finished the homework yesterday. He is a kid and we all sometimes seek ways to get out of doing things we don't like to do. It would have been easy for me to put the blame on myself and give him a pass. Nope. I have to remind myself that a little correction now is better than trying to do it later in life.

I totally acknowledge that DS9 is an awesome young man. I am thankful for his 97% good attitude. I do not expect perfection and I am totally okay with him messing up. But on the flip side, I see some kids talk back to parents and generally be disrespectful. Even DS9 notices that and usually comments on their action later. I have no leeway for being disrespectful or lying.

[BookSaver]

Hello, villagers ~
So far today I have:
Fed the cat.
Washed & dried a load of laundry AT HOME! *\o/*
Poached eggs for breakfast.
Made mock tuna salad for lunch (mashed garbanzo beans mixed with mayo).
Tried a new recipe for No Bake Energy Balls to take to work for snack break.
A little cleaning in the kitchen.
Watched 2 short videos.
Folded and put away the load of laundry I washed & dried AT HOME!
Took a nap with the cat.
Fed the cat.
Fixed and ate lunch.
Checked Facebook.

How's that for a mixture of productive and non-productive projects?

I'm going to finish sipping my cherry cola and goof off for a few more minutes.
Then it will be time to s2s and go to work.

[Harriet]

Lynlee, I'm glad you had a good visit with your dmother. I got up today and the world was marked present. As you say, we mustn't assume there's not a possibility of something going wrong! But every day it's still here is a good day.

Best wishes to Harmony's dgs.

RunKitty, I don't know if you've been following the rice controversies (really "the water controversies", it's just that rice gets so saturated in water as it's growing), but Lundberg, who makes Jubilee and other blends, was prompt to publish online the test results on their rices, which are mostly grown in California, where arsenic levels are lower than some other places. Also brown rice generally has health benefits that may balance out part of the worries, and doesn't lose as much nutrients when cooked with 10 parts water and drained, as FDA recommended last year. None of this answers all the new questions, of course, of continuing to eat water-laden rice in a water-polluted world, but gives options while this is all sorted out.

Took care of Gunner and our green-eyed boy a while today. Gunner is becoming much better behaved. I've learned that a low voice calms him and if I can once get him to "sit" he will do it again for a low, slow voice and stay calm. He's looking more poodle-y lately with a summer haircut. (golden retriever/labrador/poodle) It's true he seems to shed very little, which was ddil's hope. He just lives to please ds, who is very demanding. Ds walks in and Gunner picks up a toy and sits. I walk in and it's 'round the May pole.

Dd took the car to the Auto Bell. Hmmm... ... wonder if I could get her to pick up prescriptions! lol

[Nancy]

Working this afternoon & evening till ten thirty or so. was up early so nap is next up. Off in the am on Fri. that will be a relief. So glad to have worked that out with the granny.

[blessedw2]

d harriet so cute about gunner and you ds! lol about the maypole - you must be talking about my lab-shepherd too. lol


hello all.

went to lunch with d mom - she was ready - after being snarky and mean spirited about dd older and then me on Sunday she finally was nice again -all based on loneliness and envy of others families. - at first she was very superficial but finally after I took her on errands and we had lunch she was much much better. She needed the 3 days being without me.
She even gave me a kiss on the cheek - now that's something.

I need to focus... ta ta

[Twins' Mom]

Toot toot! Long day and I am exhausted, but agreed to go out to dinner with dh and a "wholesaler" friend and wife. I got to nearby county courthouse and saw the judge, and took dbro to see dmom. Lots of driving. Also had to pick up dd while her car got "looked at" and drop her at home.

I think main reason I agreed to go out for dinner was because I didn't want to cook.

[DeeClutter]

Toot, Toot, Toot! That sofa bed is now out of here. Dfriend came by with his truck and trailer just as we pulled into our driveway from a cart ride. He had 2 helpers. He discovered he could lift the back up and off -that helped, but when they went to go through the door -no way! He was sending dh to get a square head screw driver to remove the legs. At that point one of the guys suggested trying a little different way out. It worked! Now I can rearrange to my heart's content. Think I'm going to end up buying an office chair though. Using one of the dining chairs and it's very heavy. Just changed the order of things (computer and printer) on the desk top. Works so much better this way now. Of course it was raining as they were carrying it out. Not my worry any more.

Took dh's fairly new small chain saw over to DS-R tonight. His comment: "Nice, NIce!" He has a tree across from their lot that really needs to come down. He'll try to do it when it's not so quiet out.

[Lynlee]

I'll see if I can remember some responses to folk here

HARRIET - HRH - back in the days when I did the mowing here I found that having a 2L jug of water with added bit of salt and drinking a glass as I walked by mowing helped prevent the run over by a bus fatigue that otherwise followed for the days that followed.

on parenting
Kid's school days regrets - that one thought to get out of school lessons/days so often, with or without my knowledge. Did that start with my condoning days off due to tiredness claiming sickness? Or being late arriving?
I'd expect a 9yo to take responsibility to get homework done and handed in.
Disrespect consequences - yes always. Start when they are young.
Laundry noncooperation consequences definitely.
Enough noncoperation (kids not getting it put away when I had washed and folded it, to have clean and dirty mixed on the floor in short order, repeatedly) and it totally was their own job to get it done. indefinitely.

Making amends - People sometimes try to make amends in practical 'helpful' ways rather than saying what might seem empty words of 'sorry' when they have repeated the prior action too often.

Re Eclipse viewing - here no looking directly at sun with any sort of shielding glasses is condoned or approved.
2 sheets of paper with a pinprick in one to see the image of the sun on the second was the approved method,
unless you could line up to see it with a special telescope - a refracting telescope if my memory is correct.
I think there was a full one when I was at primary school and we were kept indoors. The room was darker for a while. Not long.
At highschool I think we got to line up and look briefly at the telescope image for a bit in turn. It was a partial if my memory is correct. We must have had a science lesson at the time because it wasn't the 1000 HS students in the queue, just our class.
Stay safe all touring to see the US one.

today
yes Harriet - sun rose and we are still here.
summer heat has given way to august westerlies. slightly cooler, high fire danger if one were to start.
appointment in an hour.

[CathyS]

Hi everyone!!

Found out today that we have a problem with our modem. A "senior technician" is coming tomorrow "between 12 and 5". If tomorrow is anything like the rest of this past week, I will be up before 7 with the bed made and a hot tea ready to drink before 7:15.

All of the dishes are done and all of the clean laundry is away. Too bad the modem is in the closet of doom. (AKA the only coat closet inside the house that has a pile of scarves on the floor for the cat to sleep on.)

Got a LOT accomplished today, including being on the phone regarding the computer. Mailed something. (We rarely mail anything.) Registered to put my first counted cross stitch into the fall fair. Found our marriage license so dh could fax it to our accountant so he could prove to someone that, YES, we are actually married legally. These were all MAJOR hurdles for me.

We went out for Vietnamese and then went to Costco for Lysol wipes, large zippered baggies and paper towels. The last time we bought one of those 6 pack Lysol wipes was when we moved in here, so 2 years ago. The last wipe I pulled out of the container a couple of days ago was still soaking wet.