Tuesday, not Monday: PWYC

[LadyMaverick]

Lunch has been cooked, served and cleaned up. BBQ chicken tenderloins, mashed potato, garlic biscuits (like red lobster), green salad.

I have met the first 7 hourly goals today. I am usually fairly good at meeting the goals early in the day and then my success rate falls the closer it gets to evening hours. I am averaging 11 hours daily and those last few hours of the day are when my success rate plummets.

I am looking for soup recipes. We are having soup potlucks in January. I need to make some sort of soup 5 times. Do you have a favorite recipe?

[Nancy]

I have been crocheting hotpads.

LM.
Soup with whatever meat and add frozen veg in my lg. crock pot is how I do it like chicken broth seasoning for chicken.
Beef seasoning for beef even ground beef & veg. is tasty.
Pork I have used pork meat ground as well maybe sausage with out so much seasoning and veg.
I like it brothy so use as much water as I can in it.
[Noodles could be added but I opt. out of them also no potatoes bc of the carbs.]

Other favs. are from a can.
Like bean soup or clam chowder.
......
I am starting the undecorating process a few tings like ards were out and serving trays that did not get used are rounded up and off the table.
Had lunch a bit of stuffing & pumpkin and some green beans and pork pieces. Yum!
I have walked doggo.
Got the leaves bagged up. Yea!
Watching the great american novel vote on PBS.

[CathyS]

Hi!

As I started making the scalloped potatoes yesterday I realized that I was exhausted and feeling weak. I had supper, but not a lot as I had zero appetite. I took flu meds after I put the potatoes into the oven and then more just before I went to bed. Woke up around midnight and the sheets were soaked with sweat. When I woke up this morning, I took more flu meds and went back to bed. Tried to read, but fell asleep and just woke up again at 2:30! The bed sheets were soaked in sweat again.

Dh went to the grocery store for fruit. He got me some ginger ale which I am drinking now.

We are having leftovers tonight, which is good, because I'm not really hungry plus I don't have to cook.

I really want to stay awake until bedtime tonight.

Dh did all the after-meal clearing up last night and put all the food away. He also took out all the garbage this morning.

[Twins' Mom]

LadyM, I'd do a chili, a standard chicken soup, a hearty veggie soup, a beef stew, and maybe broccoli cheddar?

I've emailed the dneighbor who was treasurer before me. I may need her assistance for this. The customer fields aren't consistent so I'm not sure how it's been done before.

Cathy, I'm so very sorry you're sick. I think it goes with traveling these days - we're always getting exposed to something.

[lucylee]

Yes... trying to keep my wits about me...

Rambling thoughts in my head and no, I have not even cuop.

DH is sooo sick. Gout + nausea & diarrhea from the gout medicine... and he has really had a rough time the past couple of days.
He has doctor's appointment tomorrow to discuss last disappointing and upsetting visit with urologist's NP. I have some confusion re: WHICH doctor he will see. They assured me Doctor H. Then confirmation phone call said Doctor S. Either one could be the surgeon, but I'd like to know -- without dh knowing I had to make a phone call to them today!

Dmom... I don't know if she can manage another Christmas breakfast/brunch at her house. It makes me so nervous to be out there -- nothing is "organized" like it is here; I have to look in every cabinet for each item I need... refrigerator is running over, probably with dozens of things she will never eat before they expire... I worry about her back pain and her slowness of movement and her trouble with staying focused and remembering things. (OTOH, she did not approve of my scrambled eggs -- which were probably overcooked -- and she did some more. But they were all eaten -- mine & hers.)
She did all the meat ahead of time, had it in the oven warming when I arrived. Fruit salad was pre-purchased and just had to be poured up in a bowl. Then we scrambled eggs, heated up frozen biscuits, set the table, and I signed her cards for all of us and made sure she had appropriate amounts of money in each one. This took over an hour.

I did an online dispute with credit card company re: that scam game table. (No, it did NOT arrive before Christmas.)

AND... the MAIN thing bothering me. HOW WOULD Y'ALL HANDLE THIS:
DDIL asked me before Christmas if I would be okay with a "fake" a pple watch to replace the one I was wearing with the cracked screen.
I told her I guess I would, if it did everything the old (real, hand-me-down) one did and I could "ping" my lost phone when necessary.
So, she got it for me. Probably ordered from Temu or Shein or something. Said it was very cheap.
Well... It doesn't do all the old one did and I don't like it.
I finally got the app installed last night, but there's just a lot of differences, namely that step count is apparently inaccurate and has to be manually re-set each morning, from all I can tell.
It does not light up when I raise my arm, although it says there is a setting for this. I can find no such setting.
It does not ping a lost phone.
It apparently does not keep up with sleep, although it shows a window that says it does.
It doesn't notify me of text messages on my phone, apparently.
The band does not work like the old one, and the charger is VERY inconvenient. AND I am just learning, it does not last even 18 hours on a charge!
I just have to get a new screen for the old watch, and I have to HOPE ddil can get her $$ back for this one. She will obviously know if I am not wearing it, and I think she was very hopeful it would be a good replacement for the old one. DGD was EXTREMELY excited about it. Maybe I could give it to DGD?
I don't know; ddil TOLD me to let her know if it didn't work like she hoped, but I hate to do that. DS/DDIL aren't wealthy or anything; anything they spent on us this year was probably a sacrifice. They painted their house, put a roof on one rental house and bought a water heater for the other. Plus ddil being out of work for a month or more. It's just been a tough year for them, I'm sure.

So -- I'm mulling over all these thoughts and trying to get into the spirit of the new year and back to the routines to finish out the old one.
One of my planning sites has a series this week of seven days of prompts to get us started on the new year. Today's assignment is:
What is ONE THING you hope 2024 brings?
My first thought is, better health for dh, dmom, and dgrands.
But that's nothing I can PLAN for. There's NOTHING I can do to advance that action, except pray. So... what DO I hope to PLAN for in 2024?

A bit of excerpts from this site might be encouraging to some of you, as well: (This is from anchored women

Whatever time of the year it might be, I'm always thinking about what's coming up in the near future. I think about what's going well right now and what's not.
What I should be doing with my life, and whether I’m actually doing those things.
How to make what’s really important actually happen.
I think we all worry about this kind of stuff. We have dreams and responsibilities and we wonder how to make them all work together. We realize motherhood was a bigger job than we ever anticipated, and we wonder what we got ourselves into sometimes.
We are overwhelmed and rushed and we wonder how we can be so busy and still feel like we’re missing out on life.
I wonder if you think about those things too. And I thought it might be fun if we did all of that thinking together.
So, this week, that’s what we’re going to do! This series is all about planning a PURPOSEFUL year, and that's exactly what we're going to talk about.
We're not just setting a random New Years Resolution that we’re going to abandon in a week or two. Nope.

We’re going to talk about taking time to really evaluate where we are in our lives, bringing a focus for the next year into view, setting realistic goals, and giving ourselves grace when life happens.
This isn’t going to be a “here’s all the things you should be doing” sort of series.

Instead, it’s all about quieting our to-do lists so that we can stop living like a slave to all of our “urgent” tasks, and actually start making time and taking realistic steps toward what matters most.

I’m so excited! A whole week to really figure out what things are important to us, and then giving ourselves permission and A PLAN to pursue those things!

I do not use this planner, but I think this will be worthwhile as I set up my own cards and planner for the coming year.

Another question-- LadyM mentioned a yearly calendar, which I think is the same one mentioned in the Trident planning guide you shared the other day, LadyM. Do you use google calendar for this? Do any of the rest of you use a year-at-a-glance calendar? I've never set up a google calendar but I'm thinking of trying it, with all these doctor visits and * stuff * coming up.

[Nancy]

Lucy L. the thing I think about the fa ke apple is be honest then you will not feel bad if for example grand daughter gets it.
Also it will hopefully not get your more of those type items.
I got an item similar to what I wanted but it is a challenge but I did mention why I liked the one that I wanted that had the tray.
So I'm still thinking on getting the one I originally wanted.

This year my cousins took over Christmas gathering their mom just was not up to it any more, they said she seemed to be relieved to not
have to do it. They did not ask they just told her it was going to be at their place.
Along those lines I need to do a group text that I cannot make it if I have to drive myself next year if it's after dark.

I am enjoying the sun coming through the clouds now. Thinking of an entry of what I felt like this fall when I was down in the dumps in my gratitude journal to help me appreciate when days are not like that!

[lucylee]

Well, so far, dh and I have
-- been to post office
-- been to bank
-- filled up car
and we are both s2s. (Well, he is in the shower now.)
I tried to call the doctor's office (re: tomorrow's appt in earlier post) but they are closed today.
I did an online report on scam cc charge.
I also did online check on automatic deposits at the bank.
I started a google calendar, which involved setting up a google account, but it seems like a lot of trouble. I'm more an analog person.
I hope some of you do respond to my s in the earlier post, though.

It IS hard to adjust to a Monday holiday, isn't it? I basically forgot all my Sunday tasks, since garbage was going out today instead of yesterday, and I didn't buy groceries Sunday.

WTG, LadyM, on getting back into your routines, and WTG, to your ds, on getting his workout set up for himself!

Kathryn, I hear you. I'm sluggish too... just because I'm a slug, I guess. I saw some of your post about worries for your sister. That's enough to make you sluggish. (((BIG HUGS))) Kinda how I felt last night by the time we were finished at dmom's, and then ds, ddil, and dgrands left. I just couldn't face anything except the recliner.

Harriet said: I shall be back when I regain myself and face the week.
I read that: I shall be back when I regain MY FACE.

I did not put on make-up this morning, so maybe that's why. I didn't wash my hair, either. But I am clean.
I need to regain myself, also.

Waving to Nancy, blessed, and Cathy -- and I am so sorry you're sick, Cathy! I know y'all had a good trip. Now take some time to recover!
Nancy -- maybe you're right -- dgd might like the watch -- it would make her feel like a "big girl," maybe? And ddil did SAY if it didn't work, ds was going to the computer geek who can replace my screen this week, so just to let him know. Aside from this watch, they gave me a dvd (My Big Fat Greek Wedding #3, and a gift card to R*d L*bster, so that let's us know they really didn't spend a lot on this watch. AND lets us know why it falls so short of what the real thing does, LOL!)

~~~~~
Another thought I'm mulling over... man who rents our pasture usually gives us a pre-cooked ham for Christmas. All I have to do is slice it, which is a pretty big job anyway.
THIS YEAR, apparently the ham is NOT pre-cooked. It probably weighs 20 pounds. It has directions as follows: READY TO COOK. COOK TO 155 DEGREES. No mention of temp to cook or how long... shaking my head. I have NEVER faced such a situation before. I'm about ready to donate it to someone. Sigh.

[blessedw2]

good afternoon!

it's 4:21 pm here and dh, dd younger and I took down the ornaments, lights (and separated them with zip ties), and in the end the tree. dd younger took the tree out to the curb - it was a big one this year. dh swept up needles and I vacuumed; which means for the next year we will continue to find little dried up pine needles in all types of areas.

I think I should make up a bingo game for when one of us finds dried up tree remnants - and where they were found. The winner will be free of clean up next year (if I win - I still will be doing clean up! )

dd older is helping feisty mom pack. she is not being feisty with dd; only with me . dd is bring mom's suitcase in the car so that mom does't undo it.

[blessedw2]

Hello d Lucy! wow you have been busy! waving at you as well!
praying for your dh!!!
I don't know how to cook a fresh ham. Maybe YouTube can give you the answer?
good luck with cooking the ham!
I know you are trying to keep your wits about you but if you mine along the way can you send them to me.
I am praying that you can fix the scam problem soon!

hello d Nancy waving!
how nice that you are crocheting hot dish pads!

hello d twins!

hello d cathy - I am praying you feel better fast!!!

I washed our table cloth but I need to check to see if all the spots came out.

my heart is starting to be a bit sad - I know I won't be having dd younger home for at least 8 months. it's been a joy to have her home so much!!!
They leave on the 28th! it will just be dh and I and the dogs. The dogs usually pout for a week when dd and her dog leaves. Now it will be dd younger, dd older and d mom all going at once. dd older has a 2 week vacation.

last night dd younger and I watched the 3rd of the dr. who special with David Tennant (I like him as an actor).

hitting a tired spot. I think I will read a bit.

[CathyS]

LucyLee for most things that I'm not sure about cooking, I go to all recipes dot com and then type in easy ham, or easy lamb or easy yam, and then I look at a few recipes to see what appeals to me, and that's it. You will need a large oven proof container. If you don't need a lid, no problem. If you do, cover it loosely in foil.

I've been up since 2:30 and I am trying to stay up. I heated up the Chinese food in a wok, so we have eaten. I didn't eat a lot, but better than nothing. I also had a cookie from a box full that a neighbour dropped off. She is an awesome baker and sells her stuff through a local farm store.