1 November - Eeeeek!

[lucylee]

EEEEK is right! Good gracious, the year seems to fly by. I guess b/c I'm older, and maybe retirement plays a part. I'm not constantly looking at the grade book schedule -- although, just like with raising children, teaching children seems the same: The days are long but the years are short.
Anyway, I am NOT NOT NOT ready for Christmas carols and all that stuff. Let's have a calm, peaceful November of thanksgiving first.

I AM thinking of Christmas, as I told y'all, however, and continue to put things in my shopping cart at A mazon. I will not really get into Christmas until at least mid-November. DH said if I waited until after the 15th, the Nov. credit card bill would be posted, and I could start spending off the Dec. bill.
We keep all our money in joint accounts -- checking, savings, etc. DH never writes a check; I pay all the bills -- but he does keep a close eye on the bottom line. Dec. 1 we have some savings bonds that will come due and that is why he wants to wait until then to start paying for Christmas.

We weathered Halloween nicely -- we were home before 7:30, I think, which was AMAZING, b/c we went to our church Trunk or Treat, which was chaos. Oh my. DDIL and I agree that we need better signage to direct people to move in the same direction. I think multiple entry points would work okay IF everyone moved in the same direction. As it was... people EVERYWHERE going in EVERY direction. The two larger churches in town were doing this also, in their fellowship halls, but we opted NOT to try those. We went to dmom's and her neighbors', and dgs's kindergarten teacher, who lives just down the road from dmom... then to our renter's house, dbil, and dcousin. That was IT and it was PLENTY.

Must go start supper.

Homemade soup DOES sound good, doesn't it? I can't help with the free beer either. DH's intake is about like Mr. Harmony's. I'm a teetotaler.

[Twins' Mom]

I am home from my rounds. Yes, there was a nail in my tire, probably from the same place the other came from. The tire seemed to have a slow leak so I'm glad they checked it.

I saw dmom and she was a little more together. I verified that she is getting the meds for the UTI and also talked to them re: Thanksgiving week, when dd and I (and dh and ds) will be away from Monday to Saturday. We will be reachable by phone, but if they need someone that is family to come by and help settle her down, there isn't anyone. At least I'm putting them on notice, in a pinch I could ask dfriend M to go sit with her for awhile perhaps.

I got groceries, picked up dry cleaning and gassed up the car. I went around and got any trash out while the gas was filling. My car really needs to be vacuumed out, but I do have the rubber mats. I might take them out and shake them out in the a.m. if I have time.

While putting perishables away I purged the refrigerator but it's all still on kitchen counters. I'm giving myself a little down time on the computer (no genealogy ) and then will clear counters and get garbage out...

I told dh we had enough beer for our Rosh Hashana dinner and he still bought more, we probably have close to a case in our garage refrigerator now. Before RH, I went through and had to toss most of what had been left in there from other occasions. Maybe see if the temple wants it for an event? Can't think of what but they did have a "Torah on Tap" in the sukkah last month. It's an event for young adults. I do drink a beer now and then, and dd does as well, and it's nice to have some to offer guests, but this is ridiculous!

Bw2, have you and your dh always used separate accounts? Both of our names are on all of our accounts but I use one checking and he uses another. Now that I'm not working I need money put into my account periodically which is a bummer. I really hate not earning money of my own, which was one reason I thought about starting SS at 62. According to dh, my life expectancy is much longer than his so it would be better for me to draw on my record now. Later, when he's gone, I'll draw on his because it will be the higher of the two anyway. I'd suggest finding some way to balance out the finances, so he's not saving everything and you're not stressed? (I know, talking to men sometimes is like talking to the wall, though.)

[Twins' Mom]

Do you guys want to hear something really, really scary? Hanukkah begins a month from tomorrow night! Of course, we don't really do a lot of Hanukkah presents, but still?

-clear kitchen counters
-hang up laundry from the washer earlier
-clear breakfast bar
-15 minutes in the garage

[Nancy]

Got a call from library, got my book stopp ed by the store got h the pink stuff. He napped and is a bit better now I think. Soup was goo d for lunch but nearly scalded my tongue it is sore now.

[Harmony]

I am beginning to work on the freezer, starting to eat up the stockpile of food in there. And the refrigerator. We will not get through Thanksgiving with everything as stuffed as it is now. I had some left-over rice & beans from the freezer along with the last of the turkey roast and gravy for dinner. And salad. We almost always have some sort of salad with dinner. Sometimes if I'm tired of eating stuff I just have salad. I always put lots of cut up raw veggies in ours so we get lots of nutrition from it.

The holidays coming up with all that's going on here has me sorta spooked. It is getting harder and harder to do it every year. If we were in town with the relatives it would be easier. Having every holiday I host means overnight (or two nights or more) guests and that always makes more work. I love seeing everybody and having them here, but it is getting harder.

I am missing Lilac. Hope all are ok with her family.

[blessedw2]

sweet dreams!
good night

[lucylee]

Harmony, I know it must be hard to host everyone overnight like that, and it's hard, if not just impossible, to say "Y'all just need to get a hotel this year."
My dbro -- who lives out of town and doesn't even know if he will be here for Tgiving! -- told dmom that "Lucy should host Tgiving b/c her house is bigger -- Aunt A's house is not big enough for all of us anymore."
I told dh -- when some of the other cousins start stepping up to do this, I will start taking my turn, but so far, I am the ONLY one of the five who has hosted a Christmas and none of our Tgivings have been anywhere except Aunt A's or my dmom's. DH is totally in agreement -- even more so than me -- that if we start rotating houses, everyone needs to take their turn, and we have done ours. (No one ever mentions why other uncle and aunt never host -- everyone knows uncle is much too OCD to have all of us piled in on their house. No one realizes that, as far as certain things are concerned, dh is about the same.)
And yes, we ARE crowded -- no matter where we are, my house included -- BUT... Aunt A already has her huge family plus other aunt and uncle a lot of the time, so I do not think dh, myself, and dmom are going to make much difference.
IF dbro and his girlfriend were sure they'd be here AND ds and his family would be here, that would be 9 of us, and I might consider taking my turn again. There are five grandchildren in my paternal grandparents' family, and it has been five years since I hosted Christmas. But this is NOT going to be the year.
My next oldest cousin does host some stuff at her house, but usually in warm weather (Memorial Day, 4th of July, etc) when people can be inside or outside, and the kids mostly stay outside and enjoy her swimming pool. I remember one boy cousin and his wife hosting a fall family-birthday gathering a long while back... I think ddil was pregnant w/dgs at the time. I don't believe I have ever been to a family party at the other boy cousin's house, and dbro keeps himself conveniently out of state.

But anyway, at least when our family gets together, no one comes from out of town except dbro & gf and they stay with dmom.

Today has been a mix, so far as productivity is concerned.
I paid several bills...
went to the bank...
cooked supper and cleaned up the kitchen...
got clothes ready for weekend at College Town...
s/s toilets and cleaned dh's shower...
helped dgs with bath, played a game with him, got him to bed, read Bible story...
OH -- and timed dgs on three passages reading, three times each. They were approx 75 words and he read them all in less than 40 seconds each. I think he was supposed to read them in less than a minute, so we're good, even though he sometimes transposed a couple words or skipped a word. I think he gets tired of reading it repeatedly and he gets to acting silly and/or watching the clock.
I saw his "diebel" score in his notebook, and one section wasn't as high as I thought it would be but * POTB for ME * I did NOT mention it to ddil -- the better to NOT appear "hovering." I know he reads very well -- we've been playing Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego tonight and he can read all the questions in this game that is designed for 8 years old and up -- but I think he may be rushing through it when he does it for the teacher. The other section of the score was much higher than the "benchmark" -- so I guess he is doing okay.
His pronunciation of some words is still, of course, not perfect, but I imagine that will come.

Twins -- do some families do presents EVERY night of Hanukkah? It's eight nights, right? Hmmm... and dh is complaining b/c we have stretched out family Christmas to THREE nights, LOL!

Speaking of finances, dh started drawing SS at 62, and advises me to do the same b/c his philosophy is, we don't know how long till it goes broke anyway, so we might as well get all we can back out of it as soon as we can.
If dh predeceased me before I turned 62, I would be able to continue to draw from his SS until I reached 62, right?
OH MY -- that sounds so morbid! But after the scare we had last year, I do think about these things now. I am only ("only" LOL) 57, so it will be five more years till mine can start. And his retirement will end at his death -- we both chose the larger payment option w/no death benefits for the spouse, thinking it would be best to get the larger paychecks while there were two of us, and save if possible. However, my SS will be larger than his, b/c I worked 5 years longer and had a higher degree.

(((Blessed))) re: insurance...

and (((HRH))) for upcoming tests...

Speaking of calendars, I started looking for the one I get every year and it is nowhere to be seen! Argyle Sweater, large wall calendar.
First the Far Side quit making wall calendars, now Argyle Sweater? * sheesh *

Thinking of Kathryn AND Lilac, too! And Mystery Woman... and MT... and so many others. I am sooo thankful you all are still here!!! I do NOT know what I would do without you!!!

[lucylee]

Adding to my “today I have done” list:
— walked away the pounds 30 minutes
— ate way too much junk food

[blessedw2]

hi d lucy! Don't worry I am not ready for Christmas either but I am thinking of it too!

re: question: dh started having separate checking accounts and paying separate bills many years ago. I have been in this home for 20 years so I would say it was 15 years ago. When he went through his cancer then I took over both accounts and paid bills.

The problem lies in dh saying he is constantly broke and if our dd's or I would ask if he could pick up meds or something and they would pay him back, we would all suffer until he got paid (usually a day later at the most but now it has to be immediate).

Recently he said he had been saving out of the house bills for a warranty he wanted (wasn't necessary) and that he was telling us he was so poor. I assumed it was because he didn't have any money from his SS left. He doesn't touch it. Most already went into a CD. He has been saying how terribly poor he was. He is not. I found when he is stressed he doesn't see the forest from the trees. It is really hard on him, especially after his battle with cancer years ago.

I could see the stress and this was not working for him or anyone in the house. I still think his chemo brain rears it's ugly head every so often.

He is completely happy now; I was worried this would not go well. He is still making out the bills he always had but it comes out of my checking. I signed a book for him.

- If anything is out of his normal day it stresses him out. He has a routine each day - it is exactly the same. I know every afternoon he will stop by our local grocery store, come home, stop by the bank or post office (come home), hardware store. Around 2:30 /3:00 (after he comes home again) he goes to the big book store near our house.

-I know this will work only because I can already see how happy he is. The worry was making him (lol) and us miserable.