Polar Vortex Tuesday

[OKay]

That sounds like a lot of work, BUT I'll bet in the long run it keeps things much more organized and thus easier to manage all round. Good for you. Can I come take lessons for a while?

This made me laugh! I am definitely not organized. The monthly plastic tubs holding the decorations/clothes are stored in the hidey hole (aka cellar). Only another SHE knows what I felt when LO invited Kathryn & Ken to go down into the hidey hole when they were here. NO NO NO was screaming through my head because I knew what a MESS was down there. Things piled on top of each other in no order. The cellar could be a candidate for a hoarders show. However, I also knew that Kathryn wouldn't hate me for my failures and might even understand how things could be in such a dis-organized state. All this to say.....Thank you very much for the kind words, but believe me ......you don't want to take lessons from me!

I am so pleased! I found a good local hygienist. This is the first one that cleaned my teeth as well as periodontist hygienist. And a no cavity report from the dentist finished up my hour long stay in "the chair". That is all done until July.

I'm brought home a car load of stuff and unloaded it before putting lunch on the table. Now I'm going to relax for a few minutes before starting the afternoon activities.

I have a 2:30 appt with LO speech therapist to discuss his progress and future plans.

DH has 3:00 appt with our family doctor to see what he says to do about the CT screening findings (constricted aorta & emphysema).

Library kids program starts at 3:30

Dinner @ 5:00p

Basket Ballgame at 6:30pm

[Sunny]

Hello everyone! Well, our temp was in the low 30s this morning, with wind chill in the 20s, but it has warmed up to 42* at the moment. I have a sweatshirt jacket on and dh is bundled under his heated throw blanket! I hope Lynlee's heat wave has cooled some. Good thing you were able to call maintenance guy for your water heater Twins.

Thinking about MT and Mr. MT getting ready for his procedure today; sending lots of well wishes! Also sending well wishes to Sadie for her procedure tomorrow. Wow -- 6:30 am is early!

I guess Lucylee and dh are on their way home. I watched the game last night; it sure looked like their team would have a victory till the last minute!

Hope Kathryn and dh are enjoying their cruise.

OKay, I wanted to say that I like your idea of decorating for each month. My ddil#2 loves to decorate for all the holidays and I bet if she had time she would do something like this. Those curtains are cute!

Spent some time at my desk after morning routine was done. Ground up the extra ham pieces for some ham salad and had that for lunch. The ham and bean soup we made was delicious and we'll have that for supper. We had several different recipes and chose the one from allrecipes.com. I need to start a grocery list for a shopping trip later on this week.

Think I'll get another cup of hot tea to sip while I look at some of the links that were posted here recently.

[Twins' Mom]

Harmony, my ddogs spend most of their time inside and sleep in our bedroom. They go out to our backyard on a regular basis "as needed" when I'm home, otherwise, they are inside if I'm out for the day. Even at 7 or 8 degrees this morning, Macs went out and sat on our covered porch couch awhile in the sun. I went ahead and walked them, and I have to say that 15 - 20 degrees with no wind and with the sun out wasn't an issue. I was dreading it!

This sat here awhile while I decided whether to go out to mail dd's package today. Will wait until tomorrow.....Going to hunker down and read now and enjoy the downtime.

[Harriet]

Twins' Mom, yes the sunshine gives the impression of more comfort and makes a lot of things more tolerable today. In a vehicle, you can warm up and think to yourself the day is not so different - then gasp when you open the door, of course.

We have conflicting reports of the low temp here last night, but we believe 7 F is the one from the most accurate source. Hate to say it, but our own indoor/outdoor thermometer just went completely kaput on this particular temp drop and couldn't measure it. It seems to be working again now, so maybe it is limited in what it can measure.

Glad to hear of villagers handling minor frozen emergencies with hair dryers, hand-held flamey-things and pool floats! Good job.

Automated phone call from the school system tells us the schools will remain on a 2-hour delay. Dd15 acted as if she'd won a pageant. "Oh, thank you, thank you... ..."

Since HRH has a later start to his day tomorrow, too (his alarm was still set for 6:15 this a.m., so I got virtually no break at all from my usual 5:45), we could all catch a few more ZZZZs and snuggle in for a while. Of course we'll have to explain that to the cat.

Have managed pharmacy errands today - 3 stops because one script was messed up. Made chocolate pudding that is very good. Fielded phone call from dear aunt of the daily aprons and told her about the new baby on the way. Really feel as though I am not moving up to speed, though, and I think the weather is s-l-o-wing me.

The planner order arrived, and so that makes me feel virtuous. HRH noticed I got one each for myself and dd but not one for him.....? He has to tell me these things! But he noticed these are quite floral, lol, and admitted he didn't want such feminine decorations.. He asked for a death-ray or war games decorated one, but settled for a solid gray from the pharmacy. So now our family is planner-ed.

[Nancy]

The dining table is a a disaster zone but my office is great!
Dgd is here so I'm hopefully coming backnwith more progress to report later.

We did a craft time.
I sorted mags. And let go of a pile of those.

Closet in that room will be on another day.

Harriet I would love a link or photo of those planners.
What brand? I just tossed the pages from mine of 2013.

[Harriet]

These are "wire-o" bound to lie flat, rather than loose-leaf, Nancy. This is the one I bought for me. The brand name is Avalanche. I only use this link because it shows a view of the inside pages (click on it below the photo). The price is a LOT lower other places. Got mine for $10 on Amazon. Cover is thick, glossy and waterproof, with a pocket.

The one I bought for dd15 is exactly the same except for the design, which is called "Reflections" rather than "Botanical", and must not be as popular a floral design, because it is generally cheaper to buy. It ranged from $5 to $6 on Amazon when I bought, although the price has zigged up to $7 or $8 now, for some reason. WMart says they have them for a good price.

At the other house, flushed toilets, left a drip of water going, generally checked on everything. Forgot to take the new calendar for that house. Sigh. Shut chickens up tight again and gave Sammie warm water and a little table-scraps chicken.

[lucylee]

Hello!!!
Yes -- on our way home -- a little disappointed of course, but we've had a good trip and it WAS an amazing game. Somebody has to lose, don't they?
Saw the Pacific at sunset, walked up and down Hollywood Blvd, compared my handprints to Cary Grant's LOL -- I'm really not ready to go home to single digit temps and eldercare issues, etc.
BUT -- ready to see dgs of course!

[OKay]

Good to see CI's from our travelers! Safe travels

When I walked into LO's school building this afternoon and started down the hallway to meet with the Speech therapist, the principal and secretary both came running out of their separate offices to ask me about LO name change. Yes, it is official. No, we don't have new birth certificate yet because it takes approx 4 weeks to receive it from the state. The court order signed by the judge isn't the paperwork they need to officially change his name in school. They must have birth certificate. However, they can use an alias name while waiting for the birth certificate.

I received very good report about LO speech and the effort he gives in his twice a week sessions. He has completely conquered the S and L sounds. She showed me several exercises his is doing to control and strengthen his tongue that he is working on now. I'm very pleased with his school environment.

DH came home from family doc visit making me wish I had cancelled other appointments and went with DH.
Me: What did doc say?
DH: That it was nothing.
Me: NOTHING? REally?! They mis read the CT scan?
DH: No, CT scan did show a weakness on the aorta artery that is causing it to constrict.
Me: So....
DH: Doc said that if it was him, he would just watch it for a year. However if I wanted to go to a thoracic surgeon he would set up an appt for me.
Me: So who did he set you up an appt with?
DH: No one. I told him if >>insert my name<<< wants me to go see thoracic surgeon that I would, but I am fine with waiting for a year and seeing what it does.

Uggggghhh - why am I thinking about flipping a coin on a decision so potentially important?

[Nancy]

Thanks Harriet for those links I will look at the local w mart and see if I can find those DGD just left.

Dinner smells yummy.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Spent the day slowing down. It is hard work to leave behind the frantic month of December.

Up early due to not having adjusted to this time zone. Enjoyed the view of an amazing sunrise over the ocean from the comfort of my bed (we sleep with the drapes open.)

Got to the sunrise walk almost on time in order to live up to my vacation goal of taking care of myself after ignoring my body for far too long. Followed on with exercise bike and physio stretches as I continue to recover from being bedridden over a year ago and then again this past summer.

Pedicure (I'm from the north where paying for a pedicure and then putting on socks and boots is not conducive to long lasting results)

Then quiet time in the cabin, lunch, reading on the pool deck snuggled together under blankets with dh (sunny but cool wind, high in the 60's, then a nap (went to bed at 12:30 last night) and then a lovely time at tea and fun time at trivia.

Now I'm waiting for our pre-dinner snacks of cut veggies for me, and sushi for dh. Then dress for dinner and the concert after.

We have an excellent butler, our best yet – no training or getting into the rhythm of each others' patterns.

I'm getting my sea legs slowly. The headache is almost gone. Still tired but then again I'm keeping strange hours.