Wednesday - It's SPRING!

[Twins' Mom]

I had an enjoyable time working on two genealogy projects/writing that I need to finish. I ran out of time, got my shower and finished a.m. routine mostly and went to therapy appt. Good session, and we are not scheduling again right now, but I will call when I need to. So that was good.

Dh called earlier and said we were invited for dinner at dfriends' house - he was going over earlier so they could sign some documents and I'll go just a little later for dinner. They are the ones who drink very very good wine, although they often have to open a bottle of white when I go. I'm going to take a bottle of white that I have opened (only for chicken piccata last week.) I also stopped at W hole Foods and got flowers to take.

[Sunny]

Quick check in to say hello. The first day of spring here is nice: overnight temp was 56* and temp was 73* this afternoon with lots of sunshine.

Things have been quiet here the last few days. No phone calls or news regarding our house. Everyone is waiting for the buyers financial organization to finish up their work, then the title company will set a date for the closing.

It has been somewhat relieving to be able to do my normal routines at my own pace this week. Bills are paid for the month, laundry is caught up and I've done more organizing.

Harmony, I can't imagine the pain you have had. I'm glad the doctor was able to help you yesterday.

Lady M, it's good to hear that you are feeling much better.

Norma, I'm glad you were able to check in here and hope you continue to improve.

Rose, hope your headache is gone.

Blessed, I will keep you and your dfamily in my thoughts and prayers that all will be well with your dd.

I talked to my dCousinSue a few days ago and she told me she's doing all right since her dh passed last Dec. Still lots of paperwork to get through. She will be having a knee replacement in June or July this summer. We're looking forward to getting together with dsis sometime soon.

I spied a little lizzard on the inside of one the screens this afternoon, so I took the screen out and opened the window. Hope s/he finds the way out before I close the window this evening!

Time for supper... Enjoy your evening, Twins!

[CathyS]

Hi!

I had a very tremendous day yesterday. I kept the computer off all day and was able to go through 5 years of paperwork and sort it to be filed and then sorted each file so that everything was in date order with the newest stuff at the front of the folder. I burned 5 large paper gift bags when I was done. (The largest bags available at the local dollar store.) Today I turned the computer on early and got next to nothing done in the house.

Last night we had the last tourtiere for supper with boiled potatoes and dh had asparagus.

Tonight we had pasta and meat sauce.

Tomorrow night I will most likely go and get a bucket of chicken and use paper plates. The less dishes, the better.

[LadyMaverick]

I'm frustrated with the doctor visit today. He gave me a diagnosis of neuralgia (nerve pain) and a prescription. I am not impressed with his diagnosis and have no intention of taking the medication. The good news is the chest pain I'm experiencing is apparently not life-threatening. I am going to focus on a healthy lifestyle. I am also going to return to the chiropractor and get another alignment.

DS10 has played outside with his friends for over 10 hours today. It has been a beautiful weather day.

[Harriet]

Hi to all. The day was nerve wracking but not as bad as it could have been since things went more quickly without as many glitches and we didn't have to stay as long. Nothing's really wrong but we've both had the response of napping briefly, interrupted by phone calls and dd20 getting home. Tobias had jumped into my lap to sleep with me.

We didn't really have a second wind, but behaved as though we did. So that before dark fell, HRH did outdoor yard chores and I handled trash, getting the cans set upright again. HRH's good friend has already been on the phone checking on him. That's a good thing.

Dstepdil is picking up dstepson at airport now, insisted she didn't need anyone riding with her. We won't bother them. They need to be left alone so they can regroup after a 3-week separation, so it's just as well that we are weary and ready for rest here. I know he'll be over tomorrow.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

We had burgers for dinner.

I've cleaned up the kitchen, filled the hot water pot, and taken my nighttime vitamines round 1 (I take two batches but the ones with the most water are taken after dinner.) I also refilled my 'on the go' snacks since they'd all been eaten up. I keep tiny bags of seeds and raisins or nuts and raisins in the car to grab for a snack. They replace the jelly beans I used to keep in the car since I needed a sweet snack I could eat in front of grandchildren.

I'm having a decaf tea now and then will probably head to bed. I might take the garbage to the chute and pick up the mail. I might not.

[BookSaver]

Quick post & run to say hi. Wish I could be here more.
I'm slightly stressed getting ready for 3-day sewing camp which starts tomorrow.

I'm almost ready with organizing my own sewing projects. Oh, I need to make sure I have the right colors of threads in the tote bag with my tools. I think that's all still to be packed. However, as I mentioned in AC&N, I won't be doing any sewing at all tomorrow because I can only be there a few hours in the morning to set up tables and such before I have to go work my normal Thursday 8 hour shift at the library.

Today I went to TheBigCity to buy all the groceries. They barely fit in our fridge and freezer.

I'm catering 1 meal each day: 16 people tomorrow, 19 on Saturday, and 12 on Sunday. I'm doing the easiest recipes possible, but the challenge is keeping track of which ingredients go with which day, and not forgetting anything back at home. The meeting place does not have a big enough refrigerator to store all of the food if I were to take it all tomorrow, so I have to divide between the days. The meeting place is half an hour drive from my house. It's only 10 minutes from a wm, but I won't be reimbursed if I have to go buy duplicate items.

And, of course, repeating myself, I won't be there for supper tomorrow so I'm having to drop off the food and leave instructions with other people.

(LadyMaverick and others of you do this kind of thing all the time and make it seem so easy! I'm out of practice.)

Before the 2 grocery stores, I had to go the sewing group's bank to deposit the payments for camp. Usually that's a very quick errand. Today I had to wait in line almost 40 minutes. They had customers with 2 suspicious deposits at the same time, 1 on the counter and the other at the drive-thru. The tellers had to ask all kinds of questions and make phone calls to verify that the checks were legit, and in both cases I heard them telling the customers that it was still possible the checks could be denied and there would be a fee. I think the tellers were relieved that I had a simple, straightforward deposit. If it had been my own personal banking, I wouldn't have waited that long, but this was for the sewing group and I had to get it done today.

Anyway, I'm on a supper break to figure out what still needs to be done tonight before I can sleep. Laundry & dishes because I'll be away the next 3 days. Oh, I need to pull my backup coffee maker out of storage since the group only has 1 pot and they want both regular and decaf coffee. I can precook ground beef with onions to put in the freezer for Saturday's vegetable soup. Must check the master list again. Can't stay up too late because I'll have to set my alarm for no later than 6 a.m. and earlier would be better.

To save time in the morning, I'm taking everything out to the car tonight that can withstand below freezing temps.

Apologies for neglecting to cuop. I hope you're all having a good week.

[Harriet]

Very inspiring thread today.

BookSaver, your sewing group is lucky to have someone so dedicated. Hope everyone has fun.

Since today has been a wash but genuinely tired me, I think tomorrow I'll be gentle on myself (especially my brain) and just do a rotation of what bothers me most in each room, to get to a baseline again. I suppose I'll feel obligated to start on front rooms, just to feel more prepared for the few people I know will likely come over. In the kitchen, for instance, I already know it will be the floor that bothers me most. Maybe I'll write down a tentative culprit for each room tonight.

HRH was so worried about the gaps in what he'd eaten today. He had a big supper with lots of beans plus onion and says he feels better about the day now. The last thing he wants right now is to neglect fiber while dealing with these deadlines, etc.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Harriet: I'm being gentle with myself too. My head doesn't seem right to me and I suspect the weekend (all the visiting, the noise of the party and motor to spin the restaurant, the noise of the flight, and the time change) followed by four busy days at home, is doing me in. Tomorrow is the last busy day. Long drive, lunch & sing, then Costco run which shouldn't be overwhelming but seems to be so to me at the moment.

This week each day I've managed duds and dishes (and dressed because I had to go out each day) but the rest of my life is becoming a mess.

I'm up way too late. I got distracted by a comment about watches in the KonMari subreddit and I realized I should make a decision about buying a watch for myself. I interrupted dh a couple of times for his opinion and then ignored it (!) but he wanted me to get the more expensive watch and I didn't want to spend that much money. He offered to pay the difference but I still wasn't comfortable with it, so I've gone with a cheaper watch. That meant updating my paypal account and then dh asked me about a number he received yesterday at the financial meeting and I tried to set up his access to our account there but failed. Now it is very late so off to bed I rush.

[lucylee]

Waving to everyone!!!
I wish I could be here more often too -- but as is always the case this time of the year -- dh monopolizes the computer. College softball & baseball, Braves spring training games, etc etc...

OTOH -- I have had a successful day in many ways!
FIRST -- s2s first thing. I did not lie in bed playing on my phone, I did not roll over and go back to sleep, I did not wander around in my t-shirt and flannel pants... I got in and out of the shower and that does truly make a big difference in my day. Got my morning self-care routine done, including Bible reading, and put a load of clothes in the washer.
Then dh and I went to the post office.
When we got back, I continued the laundry, s/s the two bathrooms that are not the master bathroom, straightened up baby room (I had not made the bed since Sunday).
I called dmom to tell her about TWO unexpected deaths in family friends of ddad's family -- she and I know both families but aren't close, although one is a cousin to ddad. Maybe a 2nd cousin? First cousin once removed? But not someone we saw all the time, by any means. I don't think dmom feels she needs to go to the visitation, and I won't go without her, but I did tell her if she wanted to go, I'd go with her.
She wants to go to the beach... * sigh * ... I could enjoy a trip to the beach myself... don't know if I'm up to accompanying her, however, in which case I would be the driver 99% of the way, if not 100%... and she didn't even suggest in any way that I should take her... but still... it might be nice. It would be nicer probably if we could take dgrands and maybe ddil, to spread out the responsibility... but this ain't happening. I just can't swing a trip right now time-wise or money-wise. If I told her that, she'd probably offer to pay for it -- IF I were willing to go with her... but y'all know how planning and committing to something like that gets into my panic-attack area. I do wish she would discuss this with my aunt and they could go together. It would be really nice if BOTH my aunts could go with her. They'd have a wonderful time, and it would be amazing for duncle's wife to have a weekend away from him! * sigh *
I also went outside and helped dh with spray weeds... came back inside AND...
made the DPC to the phone call re: voice mail on the new (landline) phone. DUH. It took THREE calls before someone in a position to answer my question could (apparently) understand what the question was. Got that straightened out and deleted a bunch of old voice mail messages. No wonder my dmom hates making these phone calls so much. * sheesh *
Cooked supper, ate, and went to church.

I still need to wash the dishes & s/s the kitchen. I didn't have time before church. Also would like to s/s the master bath, including dh's shower, and I need to do at least my 15 min walk away the pounds tonight, b/c I skipped last night. Vacuuming is still on the master list, so maybe it will get done tomorrow. (But doubtful, b/c we'll be watching March Madness at 12:30 CST, and dgrands will be here after school.) I will need to type up the minutes from that meeting yesterday soon, also.

When I feel my energy and motivation lagging, I have tried to tell myself to DO ONE THING. Usually, that will lead to more things, and I can get something accomplished -- even if my *LIST* is still quite full and I feel I'm falling behind. For example, today, I told myself , just go into the "baby" room bath and s/s it, and while I was walking through, I stopped to make up the bed in the bedroom. Now that room looks so much better, and it only took a minute or two.
I try to remember that it is only going to take 5-10 minutes to finish up in the kitchen.
Another 15 and I'll have our bathroom tidied up and dh's shower clean.
Vacuuming really is harder to manage, b/c it takes approx an hour to do all the living area + the master bedroom & bath, just getting the floors. AND it always makes my back hurt. I was going to try to do it while dh was outside this afternoon, but then he asked if I could help him, so you know...

I'm kinda overwhelmed thinking about next week too...
DDIL asked if we could keep the dgrands Tuesday night b/c she made an appt to have her eyebrows done. She didn't realize ds wouldn't be home that night.
Wed. night, dgd will spend the night with us b/c it's Spring Break and they have planned a big day trip for dgs on Thursday to some historical sites around Nashville, so she will be with us all day Thursday.
Thursday night, when they return, dgs will spend the night b/c dgd has an eye doctor's appt Friday morning.
Saturday, dgs will spend the night as usual, and we may be gone all day to a music festival with ds.
Monday night, the next week, dgd will probably spend the night, b/c dgs has an appt Tuesday w/the therapist re: his hair-pulling tic, etc.
WHEW... I shall have to keep repeating to myself: What would LadyM do?

And not just LadyM -- you are ALL so busy and have so much going on... and so many stressful health situations in our little village.
(((Group Hug)))

Editing to add -- Bathrooms done!

Also found out my doctor's mother died today. So sad. She had been sick a long time but still... sad for him. He and I started kindergarten together, he married a girl in my class, I taught his younger brother, and his dad had been my doctor since I was 2 years old. Lots of connections; I'll have to go to this visitation.