Tah Dah Tuesday

[Elizabeth]

Good afternoon! My TaDa is that I am here at payroll. Work City office is open, but Home Metro Area offices are all closed. To get here, I had to drive by one of the closed offices! It was my turn at carpool too. We got in about 20 minutes late, so not too bad. MANY accidents in Home Metro. Another TaDa is that I decluttered two kittens last night. The cat coordinator is taking them to their new home this evening. I was wrong about the two sewer rat cats. They are being caught and tested Friday. It's so cold today, I wish I had them in my house. However, one has survived the streets for 10 years and must know how to keep warm. I will probably get them Saturday. I did everything on my revised plan for the evening: DPC, dinner, cat transfer, grocery run, veg prep.

DD17 will be over tonight. Since she had a snow day, there won't be any homework. I would like to work on her room. There is still a chair to assemble and much declutter work. Or we could go to the library.

Better get back to the child support reports.

[Nancy]

Got in the shower today around noon.
Kicked the bad attitide to the curb.
Very lite snow not sticking so that is good.
News in J & c thread.
Walked around the block w the dog it helped to clear my head.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Just shut down Chrome and restarted it because my computer drive was grinding away even though nothing was happening. I need to do both a memory check and a hard drive health check because something is up between the two of them. I'm going out for dinner so that would be a good time to run the check.

[Twins' Mom]

More tah dahs.

-made a phone call re: trying to correct dmom's address on her VA aid and attendance, held 20 min and found out I called wrong line.
-tried to call correct phone, and got a message that they cannot take more calls in the que, and to try again at a better time
-took BP, bleeech. Doc last week agreed my monitor is close enough to theirs, but I didn't want to start checking BP when I was in pain. It is high and she will probably put me on more meds. Depressing. I feel like weeping again.
-checked mother's bank account, and put together a worksheet with her medical cost and what she receives from SS and from her small pension.
-filed a bunch of paid bills
-went out into the cold rain and got the garbage can and mail

I think I've been productive enough. I decided I will give dh a choice of ordering pizza or eating chili leftovers from the refrigerator unless there's something he wants to cook.

I'm going upstairs to play with paper and ink a little.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Ugh. Started the diagnostic and my computer is still not off but there is no display either. I know it is awake because my wireless light is on.

It is suppose to display progress.

My external monitor just shut down because it wasn't getting a signal.

Google doesn't describe this behavior.

[LadyMaverick]

Still making progress on DS10 toy box contents. There are so many things in this box that putting them into categories is agonizingly time-consuming. However, I want DS10 to continue to feel good about the decluttering of his stuff so I'm going to continue using this process. This toy box will not be returned to his bedroom. It has served him well for almost a decade but its use is done. I'm not sure if we will repurpose it for a different use or give it away. That is a decision for another day.

Yesterday DH ordered 150 pieces of fried chicken for tomorrow night meal at church. The place he ordered it from just called and said the chicken is ready to be picked up. WHAT?!! DH told them to look at the order because it clearly says it is to be ready Wednesday at 5pm. ***silence on the other end of the phone*** Someone either didn't read the order or they thought today was Wednesday. Hopefully, their mistake doesn't cost them their job.

DGD7 is back here after enjoying her snuggle time with DD. She took a bath and washed her hair there so that bedtime activity is already done. Washing/drying DGD7 waist length hair is a bit of a PITA. DGD7 is absolutely firm in her desire to keep her hair long and prefers it hanging free. It is very pretty but takes 15+ minutes a day to brush it.

I am researching what kind of media to use in dutch bucket gardens. There are so many options and I have no experience so am probably over thinking it.

[Harriet]

Dee, fire-roasted tomatoes were the surprise ingredient in an Iron-Chef type Cook-Off contest, of which I got to watch some after-video. The chef who won discussed how versatile the canned version is - she likes Muir Glen brand. Her recommendation to try it in a lot of different ways inspired me when we were given that huge gift of home-grown greens to use for Thanksgiving. I poured a can into the freshly cooked greens and it made them more like a company-ready, attractive side dish for a serving bowl.

After a few frantic moments this am, HRH and I found all the paperwork we knew we needed, and we settled down with all our tax stuff and were actually early to the tax appt. So that was a Ta-Da, although a couple things have to be taken in, still.

We knew the sleet was coming, so we shopped for groceries before heading home, and really ended up making a large shopping trip out of it, so that was a Ta-Da, too. HRH carried most of that in through sleet, but it wasn't bad yet.

Later (ugh), I got everything ready for the trash truck (Ta-Da) plus closed up the hens all by myself in some serious sleet - now that was bad at that time. It's been a long time since my hands got so cold I couldn't warm them relatively quickly without pain. But this time, I had been sipping my coffee until it was almost gone before my poor hands calmed down. I had been bundled, hatted and galoshed, but I forgot my gloves Frustrating they weren't in my pockets - well I guess not, since I was using HRH's bigger coat!

Lilac, I thought of you and finding out in time that ball game had been cancelled. Glad you didn't have to brave it.

Also BookSaver, I thought of you getting at least a few inches of snow away to be just that much more prepared.

Twins', creativity gives a welcome break and helps a lot. Look up the ways to lower BP and see if any can be tweaked for you right now - it's been a stressful time. Have you continued enough water in these days that are so dreary they don't make us thirsty? Sometimes little things like that help. Hibiscus tea is a pleasant remedy that is pretty, too, and has a good track record on easing those numbers down some.

Thinking of your dfamily, ((Nancy)). Glad you can clear your head in a walk with dpuppy.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Grabbing some steps from the treadmill between dh's conference calls. I'll get more than enough before the next call.

So my computer is still trying to run the memory test. It doesn't look like it will happen since it is doing the same thing it did last time. Two power resets and a 90 minute wait got my computer back and what did I do but go and send off on the same process again. I have no idea why the test won't work unless my memory is completely not working and that's why the memory test isn't working. That would explain why my computer has been acting up.

It is still under warranty for another few weeks so I need to get a call in tomorrow. It needs a new motherboard again but moving the memory over won't satisfy me unless he can test the memory some other way. I know I need a new battery but I don't want to invest in that until I get the rest of this running right. I was so close to buying a new computer but the specs on a new one aren't enough better than my 5 year old machine to make the expense worthwhile if I can get this one to stop memory swapping on the hard drive all the time.

The treadmill computer is fine as an internet machine but lousy at everything else and the battery is shot on it. No point replacing, it is 8 years old and works great as an emergency backup but can't run most software I have on my current machine.

[LadyMaverick]

I looked up recipes for Buffalo Wings that were keto friendly. It took over an hour to cook 50 pieces. I'm not impressed with my effort. They are only mildly spicy. I like REALLY spicy. I'm having to drench each bite in the hot sauce because it isn't sticking to the chicken. I won't be using this recipe again.

DSon and family called to chat. It was an enjoyable time. We made tentative plans to meet in Missouri in a couple of weeks to watch DGS12 compete. DGS12 placed 1st in his state competition last week (gymnastics).

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

I had to power reset out of whatever hole my computer had fallen into. So I'm giving up on the memory test and will ask for one from the repair company instead. He'll probably have a non-windows one. At least the computer is running for now.

I got 1.3 miles in on the treadmill, washed up the dishes including my new paring knives. I'm not impressed with them. The largest weighs 23g, compared to 33g for a smaller knife I already owned. They have no weight to them at all which makes me wonder if they are any good. There were 'expensive' (they are Henkels) but one of the cheaper lines. Still $10 each for something that has no weight and feels cheaper than my existing knives (which likely came from the dollar store) is not confidence inspiring. Mind you, I haven't cut a thing with them left.

The dying smoke alarm is driving me nuts but I can't figure out where it is so can't report it to management. It is actually quieter in the hall than in my apartment so I suspect it is the apartment below me. I've emailed them to find out if they are away. If so, I've solved the question of where.

My tap handle should be fixed tomorrow. I'll ask the super about the smoke alarm at that point. Honestly, I'm getting a stress headache from this. At night I wear earbuds that mostly block the noise so at least I can sleep.

Speaking of sleep, I took my melatonin at 8:45.