Wednesday Wanna Get it Done!

[Twins' Mom]

What a quiet day in the village! Is everyone hard at work?

Crisis is over here. I showered, and DD came and helped me with makeup. The photographer came on over and took pictures and I think they will be great. He will do a little editing and send them to me via Dropbox. Hair looked acceptable, glasses kept fogging up with the humidity but the photos I saw were better than I expected. Photographer is quite a talker and it took a while to send him on his way...and then I got dd gone. Lunch is tofu hash as a taco salad and fruit with greek yogurt.

I need to regroup.

-pull house back together
-groceries
-text dh and let him know I'm free this evening, and suggest we eat out since I haven't planned supper


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This sat here while I went off on another tangent. Talked to dh and we'll eat some rotisserie chicken and steamed veggies instead of going out. I'm going to push off groceries until tomorrow in favor of accomplishing some things this afternoon since I feel I haven't done much. (Although getting a professional headshot has been needed for quite a while so I'm glad to get it done.)

[lucylee]

I think I better stop "getting it done" for a little while. DH made me promise I would NOT do any more pruning of our shrubs.

Yesterday, I did NOT ever get to change the sheets. DH decided he was going out to clean the garage -- vacuuming the bottom floor AND the top floor where the pool table is. So I said I would try out dmom's hedge trimmer while he was out there. I thought, surely I can stand the heat as long as he can... but I am a wimp. I had to stop SEVERAL times for water and crackers and I was pretty exhausted and shaky after an hour or so trimming shrubs. I emptied 4 HUGE wheelbarrow loads of clippings, and what fell behind the shrubs, I just left there, so there's probably another 4 loads there, between the porch and the shrubs.
BUT * mistake? #1 (in dh's eyes) * was that I kinda sawed off the FRONT of the shrubs. I felt it was necessary, b/c they had gotten soooo huge that it was impossible to reach the very top of them; the diameter was so big that you couldn't get close enough. Unfortunately, the front growth was disguising a LOT of dead limbs behind them, so now they kinda look like this:
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Okay... * mistake #2 * Since I was practically having a heat stroke and wondering just how on earth my grandfather laid brick for 50 years and my ddad did construction work when he was older than I, I posted about this experience on FB. * sheesh * I should not be allowed to have a FB. In my post I also said the ONLY reason I was doing this was to save my own $$ b/c I couldn't afford to hire someone to do it and there was no money in the world anyone could pay ME to do it!
* sheesh *

That was kinda embarrassing to dh. I told him I think everyone that knows us knows that "can't afford" means "don't want to afford" b/c I mean, seriously, we are definitely NOT wealthy, but everybody who knows us knows we manage to afford season tickets to football and basketball games at an SEC school right? It's pretty obvious that we just don't CHOOSE to make home repairs/upkeep our priority. But anyway... he was pretty miffed about the whole thing, b/c a friend who does yard work for a living (and whose father just passed away with congestive heart failure) offered ON FB, to do it for free and let us take care of the clean-up. * sigh *
So I had to tell her, no no no, I would never ever let her do that kind of work for free, that dh said we COULD and would gladly pay someone to do it, when we got time to deal with it. (Right now, he really does not want anything else scheduled into his "routine" except dgs's t-ball and another trip to Atlanta, a trip to Nashville, and hopefully, a trip to Shiloh battlefield in TN.) So I told her I might get back with her in the fall, when it is a more appropriate time to prune, anyway.
* sigh *

So yesterday, my first post was all about stupidity re: phone calls, and my last one, if I had not been so exhausted, would have been about stupidity with the hedge trimmers and my big mouth.

I honestly do wonder how I would have ever survived if I had had to pick cotton or anything like that. I think I would have just literally died before the first day was over. Dmom and I talked about how it must have been easier for people to acclimate to the heat when there was no ac indoors, and when they started going to the fields when they were children, actually, (my grandmother said they pulled my ddad and his brother and sister in a wagon while they picked cotton or worked the garden or whatever, until the children were old enough to put to work) -- and people started early, early in the spring and learned to endure the heat as it gradually increased. And of course, they all did like my dgdad, who was up at 4:00 a.m. and probably was mixing mortar when the sun came up. His day ended about the time I started out yesterday!

Anyway --
I spent my afternoon with that, so I marked off one round of outdoor zone work -- one hour, although it was actually more like two.
I just marked round one on that zone b/c it was the first time I've done anything on it this year. And we're in round three, right? I'm just trying to keep up with a rotation as Harriet has mentioned before, and although I LOOK at the calendar to see where I am SUPPOSED to be, but I also look to see what has been neglected the most. My outdoor zone is "Outdoor/Storage/Car/Misc"
After that,
I cooked supper,
dgd came over,
dmom came over (to bring me/ds a duffle bag FULL of sweater vests that ds will NOT wear, and they will be donated to goodwill... but she also brought a swimsuit of ddad's that ds will wear, AND one of ddad's basketball jerseys, which we think is from his 9th grade year.
THEN dgs arrived, and we spent some time outside, with him showing dh his skill (or lack thereof) in throwing, and he and dgd played awhile
THEN finally we went back inside and I FINALLY cleaned up the kitchen.
I don't know WHEN I have been so tired. DDIL didn't get here to pick them up till nearly 10:00 pm...
and then dh said he wanted ice cream.
So – I was still NOT s2s, but we went out to Sonic. Oh my goodness, that frozen cherry lemonade was so good.

I finally took a shower and washed my hair (and shaved my legs!) at about 11:00 pm. I slept good though.

So today, I have both dgrands while dh & ddil are gone to Nashville. (DS and band have a big thing going on tonight and he will ride home with dh & ddil.) Swimming lessons were cancelled b/c of rain, but dgs wants to spend the night with us, and dh will not be home till about 2:00 a.m. anyway, so he is staying. They will take dgd home when they get here.
For me personally, since I have instructions NOT to touch the hedge trimmer again, I guess I will try to catch up on laundry, change sheets, and dust.
Those three will be pretty good accomplishments with these two running around.

DGS is playing the piano, DGD is running around and worrying him to death. He just told her, "I'm NOT playing. I'm NOT playing."
I said, "What does she think you are playing?"
He said, "Chase & Scream."

I didn't know it had an official name.

[Nancy]

Back from errands and knitting group was good, and dropped off the linnen
closet donations on my way to tne grocery store. Traffic flow was more hectic than my earlier regular shopping day. Glad it is done bc it is warmer put today 80* it is 79* now outside.

Good news about our house insurance yea!
I rounded up laundry from master bedroom.
Swept the kitchen & dining room.

Break time is over I need to get going with a session on my home blessing tasks.

[Twins' Mom]

Well rats. The research analysis and plan I was writing up for the June assignment worked too well. I found direct proof that Nancy was the daughter of David. From a document on Ancestry already, wherein her mother applies for a Rev war pension and names all her husbands and children of each. That's pretty good evidence, if I may say so. I suspect that the friend I am doing this for, gratis, will be delighted. If I can take David back to his father she will have another DAR ancestor.

So need to start again.

[Sunny]

Just a quick post to say hello. It is hot and sunny out now, earlier we had a thunderstorm and I had some electronics unplugged. This is the second day in a row for storms. We still do need some rain.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELIZABETH! Hope all is going well for you today.

Nancy, you are doing really well with your decluttering plan. I have been pecking away at mine here, doing a little each day. Monday I gave myself a much need hair trim and perm. Yesterday we made a quick trip to two pharmacies to pick up refills for dh. We also picked up a few groceries at W-M also. Today I balanced the checkbook and paid a few bills.

Harmony, thank you for anniversary wishes (a few days early). We will be 50 years on Friday the 15th! Ds#3 actually sent me a text on the sixth, so he was early too.

Ok, dMinnie is telling me it is her suppertime, so I'd better go now...she is talking to me!

[Harriet]

lucylee, isn't it dh you should be worried about working out in the heat, not you? As I heard once on a trip through the low country, "it's brain scald weather out there." I thought you meant you asked dgs what was the musical piece he was playing, and he said he was playing something he'd titled, Chase & Scream. So I thought, hey, dgd is just following the music.

♪ ♫ Happy Birthday to Elizabeth! ♫ ♪

Had a long phone call from ds (who was not only on vacation but having his anniversary) and after much agonizing together, we decided that giving the benefit of the doubt and hiring his - let's see - second cousin C - was the right thing to do. I'll be honest, it was iffy. As I predicted, ds knew things he'd never told me about C, but he felt it was time to let the past go and assume all would be well. He believes C is on a path to repairing his reputation and maybe we're called on to be a part of that.

So, while the co-worker was measuring and after the dickering (HRH cannot live without a little dickering) I put a great deal of money (fainting icon here) into C's hand this morning, and he said to me, "Now Harriet you know... .. that I will be sure to send you a postcard from Florida". Very funny. But it did make me realize that he knows his reputation has not been stellar. It was he himself who told us to go ahead and look on the fb site of his company - he must have realized there were some irritated people posting there among the happy ones.

HRH and I couldn't help but look out the window waiting, considering it all. Once upon a time, a (kitchen) contractor to whom I had given (much less) money never came back, and I had felt so foolish. But I told HRH, I was putting this today into the hands of (full name of my dear deceased aunt)'s grandchild. C knows I see it that way and I know he sees it that way. Now it's just up to him to live up to the trust. At any rate, he was back in an hour and a half with materials that already would cost about half the money I gave him, and looked like all his truck could hold in one trip. (whew)

[Nancy]

My plan is pretending we are listing the house next week for mojo. In reality is more like next yr. Drove by a really cute place today but no room for all of our rigs.

Put sewing room back together. laundry is going now. Folded some laundry.

[lucylee]

LOL -- Harriet -- no, I wasn't clear with that -- she was running around and then she would get in his face and scream. Two year olds have the most ear-shattering screams, don't they?

Dmom called, which broke me from the computer and while I talked to her, 45-50 minutes, I * TA-DA *
stripped the bed and got the sheets in the washer
dusted the living areas of the house, all except the kitchen

Sheets in the dryer now and 2nd load in the washer...

Talked to ddil & dh. They are eating at a fancy restaurant (they said) and having a nice time sounds like.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Lost the afternoon to the internet.

And a visit with the super who came by to fix my hot water tap which wouldn't shut off. He explained by my shower was so hot today (the thingy was broken and so it wasn't regulating how much hot water flowed through when I turned the handle - only he didn't use the term 'thingy'!)

After he did the repair, I made him sit and have a tall glass of cold water because he's been run off his feet today. So he took 10 minutes and we chatted.

Ds slept through it all (including chatting outside his door) and slept late so rushed off to his woodworking class. He'll be back after class to pickup his laundry. He forgot to text me to keep it running so there's a wet load in the dryer now.

I'm going to go wash those dishes and then heat up my dinner. My refugees sent me home with a full plate of food so I'll be having stuffed zucchini, stuffed grape leaves and a cheese/pasta/chicken dish for my dinner and Eid cookies for dessert (they can't have them until Friday when it is Eid but she had them all baked up and ready so gave me some to take home.)

I really enjoyed last night and it reminded me why I am doing this.

Today came the reason why I've not had as much fun doing this. I got the outcome of the negotiations over money. It was telling our treasurer to send $9000 to another church for the family we aren't supporting. Given our partner group was demanding $14K, I'll consider this a win. Plus I didn't have to be involved with the negotiations.

I sent an email confirming this was the only stipulations, and said at the end of the sponsorship period we'd turn any remaining money over to the other church for the family we aren't supporting. Our 'partner' sent a reply back saying they want a signed document from our treasurer and me that we won't spend a penny above the minimum required by the government without asking permission from them. I hope they respond fast because in the case of an emergency, money might be needed quickly. I'm still annoyed because she says it is in accordance with our agreement yet there is nothing about supporting another family in our agreement at all. I guess I lost that in the negotiations.

Eight more days and my last family arrives. I'm excited about that because so far no-one has asked me to do a thing!!!!

[lucylee]

Harriet, I wanted to post last night, I certainly feel your pain re: working with family and ac contractors in general. I guess they are all just incredibly busy right now, but dmom has been waiting three days, I think, for hers to come. And the last time I called a repairman who was related to us, I thought WHY did I do that??? He took forever. Dmom's ac man is not related, but he is the one who put in their unit and who worked for my ddad a lot.

DH -- you are correct -- does not need to be over-working himself in the heat (that was the concern of the dfriend) but I can't take it, either.
DDIL says ds can do it for us, but he does stay pretty busy, and dh said the first day we have him at our service, we MUST go to the dump!

You've got time, Nancy, you'll find just the right spot! Don't get discouraged!

Happy birthday, Elizabeth!!!

And -- Happy anniversary (Friday) to Mr. and Mrs. Sunny!!! That is wonderful!!!

Twins, I don't understand why you said your plan worked "too well." Sounds like it was perfect. Did I miss something during the last day or so while I've been AWOL?

(((Kathryn)))

I just wish my father had lived long enough to see this. (And that we had his tools and my grandfather's tools to give to ds.)

That's wonderful, that your ds has found this interest though, and is pursuing it like he is!