In Motion Monday

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

I'm in motion for the day (or I will be when the BGS takes hold!)

What motion do you have planned for the day?

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

I have my first volunteer day with W & R. A settlement conference with a local agency and then sheets shopping. Plus she needs to go to the dollar store. Bless her heart, she knows what she wants and isn't afraid to ask for it. That's good.

On the other hand, as far as I know there has been no money talk yet with them. I have no idea how much money they brought (they did bring some) nor will our partner group tell us how much money they have raised. What I do know is that the amount of money the church will pay out is not very much to live on and they must be careful in their choices. For instance, the nicer (not fancy) duvet cover at IKEA costs 1/3 a pair of decent boots more than the cheap cover. So they have to prioritize.

The church will be giving them $625 a month to pay for electricity, internet, phones, food, medicine, bus fares, laundry ($6 per load) and other incidentals like extra clothes. That's an extremely tight budget - food and cleaning supplies for 2 should be about $400 a month, bus pass for the poor is $100 for the two of them, electricity is $35, internet is $35, and 2 loads of laundry a week is $48, leaving $7 a month for everything else - except their phones are $35 per month plus talk time - not including data. Simply put, he must not spend all the money he brought on niceties because he's going to need it to subsidize them until he finds a job.

[blessedw2]

have a good day at your first day of volunteering at the conference d kathryn! I also like people who tell what is needed directly - no guess work. Best wishes with the money talk.

[LadyMaverick]

Good Morning!

It is holiday week for me. Two kids off their normal schedule.

I enrolled both kids in MobyMax last night. MM gives a month of free access so I decided to use it this week. I am doubtful whether we keep using MM enough to pay for it, but I am willing to be surprised that it is better than I expect. The kids like MM because they earn play time. After doing XX number of minutes of work, then you are rewarded with xx number of minutes of game time. The minutes of study & game time can be adjusted by me. The default is 20 minutes of work to earn 1 minute of game time and you have to accumulate 20 minutes of game time before you can use it. That seems too much for Mr ADHD and a first grader. I am lowering the requirement to 10 minutes of study earns 2 minutes of game time. They can use the game time after accumulating 6 minutes. Sooooo basically they get 6 minutes of game time every 30 minutes they spend on studies.

[blessedw2]

d lady I wanted to ask you a question - I have always struggled with math - but love the idea of loving math. I want to learn as a child from the beginning online - do you have any suggestions for sites for teaching basic math? You probably use a complete program. Do you have any suggestions.
I am so impressed with home schoolers and I thought there has to be something out there for me.

have a great day d lady! and everyone as well.

hi d dee!

time for work!
yesterdays clean dishes put away
and since I didn't do a lick of dishes yesterday - those dishes are now washing themselves
counters bleached
stove top swiped again
sink shiny
spoke to heater company to verify appointment I made on line for fall clean up
spoke to yard people to see if they will be coming out again for the fall clean up as our trees are just letting go of their leaves


it's weird not having d mom around for the next 6 months. It was nice having dd older here - spoke to dd younger last night.
i lack focus big time today because I forgot my meds yesterday morning.

[DeeClutter]

Been up since 7:15 and have done the basics, eaten breakfast. We even made a short trip to $ General for a few things. One thing I can't find so far is a seat cushion for dh for the chair he uses at the puzzle table. Saw some on A river but much too expensive for just one pad.

Dsonil is in the process of taking PILES!!!! of magazines out to his car. Unfortunately he's bringing back in more than he's taking out. DD's trying to 'let it go, let it go'......... She's hoping to toss a few while he's gone to the east coast. He's taking a couple of the tikis he's made and has sold. ($700 for the two -that'll help some.) Think he may get more serious about his art work now that he's unemployed again.

Dh and I have an appointment at the gym at 1:30 for the trainer to walk us through the 30-minute circuit. Hoping I can use the elliptical -used a different machine at rehab and it was 'sitting' so we'll see. Already told him I don't 'do' treadmills. Looks like I could walk around the perimeter of the gym -will have to ask this afternoon.

Got the desk in the dining room all cleared and put a runner on it. Looks much more inviting.

[blessedw2]

good for him selling those tiki's d dee

[blessedw2]

next room by room dailies after I run errands
powder room surface swiped

what needs to be done in kitchen still - vacuum, swiffer, swiffer rinse floor
make apple bread
make banana bread - the bananas need using up
Headed out - got dh s old stocking framed in a shadow box - as it was too frail to hang up - d mom in law made it 62 years ago

[Nancy]

I organized the turkey day food on a shelf in the freezer last night. I cleared out some old planners. Have a pumpkin cranberry dump cake in the crock pot. It has been raining h wind just started in so clearing leaves is on hold. The leaves are apx. 50% off the tree. Trash is dumped. Journaling is done. Lists made out, next I need to write out what I put in the cake in case the recipe is a keeper lol! So far h has decided he has 3 fav. Of them hot warm & cold! Next up unload the dishwasher.

I like math homework on U tube for example fractions helps when I need tobreview and help g kids.

Made a crochet swiffer cover this weekend. Yea another success.

I have been out in the yard raking the leaves, did 2 15 min. Sessions it looks better more to come.

[Elizabeth]

Good morning everyone! I can't use the internet at home until next billing cycle - fortunately only two days away. That gives me two days where I cannot be distracted by computer jigsaws. Probably the reason I ran out is that I had to use YouTube for a few days of dance practice. The dance did go reasonably well, but I realized there is one thing you cannot practice at home with a video - dancer positioning. I forgot one and it threw me for the rest of the dance. Watching the other dancers made it less of an issue, but DD15 could tell what I was doing. She wrote a note on the program "Relax you are doing this for fun". My solo section went well. I do much better without choreography.

Neither friend who asked about the date and time of the show came. For one, that was not surprising. He is a coworker, long eligible for retirement, and his wife asked about it. I suspect he was embarrassed by the idea of watching his female coworker belly dance! The other was the xBFF, who, instead of coming to the show, had the x and the other woman over to dinner. She thinks I am unaware of this, but I have noticed anytime that the x asks me to pick up DD for guitar, that is where they go. She has made her choice. I just wish mom had not invited her for Mardi Gras. The xBFF now wants me to suggest to mom that her boyfriend be included. She said they could stay in a hotel. (She knows d*mn good and well they will not be sharing a bed anywhere near my DD). The logistics of meeting a chronically late person staying at a different establishment during Mardi Gras traffic just boggles the mind. I have not mentioned it to mom.

Another frustrating time at Petsmart. Once again, the x and the other woman have changed the name on my phone number to hers. It is now listed as "Elizabeth not Lisa". We came to the conclusion that our phone numbers may be linked in their database, so changing one changes the other. I am going to write Petsmart and request an unlinking. I found this out when I had to by more of Briggs's prescription food. His foster-to-adopt situation did not work out and he is coming back. Stratton will be much happier. I was so looking forward to cheaper food, but the vet wants him to stay on it for another 3 months before we consider change. Since I buy most of the food elsewhere, she is not saying it to get more $$$ from me. Of course, this meant I had to borrow more money from savings as I had < $10 after the transaction. (At least it was still a positive number).

I can no longer avoid the two DPCs. They are essential to determine a decision due tomorrow (insurance). Other chores today: Petsmart letter, Briggs retrieval, and grocery run. I did not forget to move the turkey from the fridge to the freezer.

ETA: Both DPCs accomplished. Both doctors take one insurance and not the other so my decision is easy. Annual appointment made with gastro doctor and refills requested. Unfortunately, I just learned he is retiring at end of year. There are other doctors in the practice, but I was happy with him and not intending a change.