Mulling over Monday

[Nancy]

Drum roll ... wait for it ta daa ... the vacuum is working! There is an open / close place on the hose and it was on the close part last week. This week I got theee rooms vacuumed upstairs one more to go but it is office and a decluttering job needs to happen first.

Yes on that energy thing or if some one has pain like artbritis, knee or other pain makes it even more of a challenge to do general house work.
Lunch is over.

I got most of the craft rock painting stuff off the table it is tolerable yea.
Hens chores done.
Watching finding your roots as a reward on my break.

I will dust after this break.
No mail day school is a half day here.

[LadyMaverick]

. I have a hard time when criticism is used when that person thinks it's supposed to help. No one wants to hear - if only you did this.... my way is the right way...

((((Blessedw2)))))) It sounds like our DMom's are very similar in this way. I have struggled for decades (and still do) with the constant criticism from my DMom.

My DMIL is totally opposite. In 40+ years, I don't believe she has criticised me a single time. I have given her MANY MANY reasons and opportunities to do so, but she has always been my biggest supporter. She has been in our home many times when I am being a complete failure in home keeping but she doesn't say a word and acts as if she doesn't see it. I adore her and welcome her into our home without a thought of how it looks.

Our DSon and DDIL are both slobs. They recognize this in themselves and deal with it the best they can. Each time we visit them, their home always looks like a home in a magazine because they always time the housekeeper to clean right before we arrive. Many times we have arrived when the housekeeper is still working. I find it somewhat amusing to see the spotless, clutter-free home return to "normal" as the hours pass. The spotless countertops and tabletops quickly fill up with things. Ditto on the shoes, blankets, toys, and stuff left lying around the living room. The thing that saves DSon and DDIL is they are good at decluttering. The last time we visited them was a community-wide garage sale. DSon & DDIL used the opportunity to fill their curb with stuff with the word FREE taped to them. Everything was gone within an hour. I'm a slob so I totally understand how hard it is to keep up with everything.

DD and DSIL have very few possessions so their home is clutter free and looks good. They do have a "non-existing" room in their home that contains all of DD clothes. Only someone who has been around a bi-polar manic person can understand how much they can purchase. DD gave me a key to their home and permission to enter anytime. I have never used the key and won't unless DGD6 needs something from the house.

[Twins' Mom]

Ta da, I emailed this article off. Also sent a cc to two board members of the organization.

I'm antsy.

[blessedw2]

yay d nancy!!!

awesome desk duty day d harriet

yay d twins... also sorry you are Antsy

hi d lady!
My d mil was exactly the same way as yours. my d girls always felt that d mil treated each grandchild exactly the same. I don't ever remember her criticizing me about my home or being a parent - she was a huge supporter of all young mothers and fathers. My d mil and d fil felt like you regarding the grandchildren because they felt parents always were harder on themselves and needed emotional support than criticism. I really appreciated that.

dd younger is an uplifting person (she struggles against routines, she was diagnosed with ADHD but is not on meds plus her brain injuries have exasperated the focus problem, and she is a keeper of things and always have HUGE ideas but struggles now with the follow through since the concussions. - d mil used to tell me that her youngest was a slob but if you saw my youngest d sil now you would never know.

so nice that you are so respectful!

[blessedw2]

continued heavy cleaning day:

laundry room done
vacuumed
swiffered and swiffer washed
wash doors inside the laundry room
cleaned the fronts and tops of laundry machines
cleaned the tile behind sink
cleaned sink and faucets
dusted under shelf
washed the side bottom walls of dog area
washed outside door and windows

kitchen washed garbage can

my home smells wonderful

dh put in a blanket in washer

[CathyS]

As LadyM already saw on FB, leftover creamed onions and mashed potatoes from last night means we are having Shepherd's Pie tonight. We even have an entire pear (and apple) pie and some whipped cream. Oh, my!

[blessedw2]

sounds great d cathy!

heading out soon
I am done for the day

vacuumed and swiffered washed dining room, front hall, living room
I have night time card: empty dw

[Harriet]

Gee, ya'll coulda warned me.

It's Columbus Day in US. No government offices, no banks. But that only accounted for half my errands, anyway. I did get by another office with some papers and did get a big fresh salad from a local salad bar HRH asked for, something I'd promised myself I'd do if I could.

Good job finding the problem with the vacuum, Nancy. Mine is temperamental.

Twins', it's great you will likely have a published article. Maybe you will encourage their standards to rise!

Looking forward to hearing that Ramblin' had a good day, no problems. Hoping for great eyesight.

Dd37 called. Her grandmother is slipping away. A lot of what dd37 will be able to do in the next week or so will depend on the calendar. Dsonil just had a cousin to die (instantly at age 38 while sitting on his couch - aneurism (sp)) and their heads are spinning with responsibility.

Thinking of my dfirstmil, she did not openly criticize and had no problem "siding" with her children's spouses if she saw one of her children was wrong. But the manipulation to get me and her two other in-law children to do what she thought we should was without peer. The 3 of us stayed on guard for decades and I myself often thought I was playing a chess game. I love her very much, though, and remember (or have actually saved) so many little gifts and kindnesses from her over the years. Looking back, I think she has always been full of honest hopes and dreams for everyone around her, but assumed she needed to be the one to orchestrate the future. I think she had a lot of frustration because she couldn't get the next generations to see potential the way she did.

[Nancy]

Did a store run. Got the shoes in black, 1/2 size bigger they were not as good a fit as the others. But that was all they had. Picked up dinner. Dropped off donations.

[LadyMaverick]

It is a simply BEAUTIFUL day outside. DS9 and DGD6 are playing with the neighbor kids. Because our AC isn't working we have all the windows open. I am mostly monitoring the kids playing by sound. DS9 laughs non-stop. His school teachers have told me they miss the sound of his laughing. I am going to miss days like this when it gets to be winter.

I have deep cleaned the bedrooms today. Because they have all been decluttered and deep cleaned lately, it only took about 10 minutes per bedroom to get them into an almost perfect state. I don't expect them to stay that way, but once a week it is nice to reach this point. The rest of the week I will just do a quick dust-mop of the bedroom floors and PUPA. That will take less than a minute per bedroom per day......as long as I stay up with them and don't let them become overwhelming.

Homeschool Day #68 went well once DS9 got started and focused. It thrills me to see him excited about learning and proud of his accomplishments. As he does his lessons and I grade them, I lay them on one part of the dining room table. Seeing page after page of 100's laying there inspires DS9 to do more. At the end of the homeschool day, I put all the completed/graded papers into a tub. I don't have any reason for keeping them other than it reminds me how much DS9 is doing. I kept all of his papers from 3rd grade. Eventually, I'll toss them all, but it isn't taking very much room to store them so, for now, I'll just continue this way.

I wonder how RR surgery went?

DH has the long awaited (6 weeks) surgery tomorrow morning. They will remove a cancerous place from his left shoulder. It was found and biopsied by a dermatologist so hopefully the cancer is only skin and the surgery won't need to go too deep.