Mannered Monday

[Harmony]

Sadie, I'm happy to read your arm is doing so well.

Dove, better a barking dog out the car window than the pig with the pinwheels going weeeee! weeeee! Have y'all seen that ad?!

I have a LOL to fold up and put in drawers; my white or colored cotton underwear, very modest but covering and oh-so-comfy go to the bottom of the pile in my organized drawer! My kids make fun of me but whatever, they will be old someday too...

Some desk work, email sent, bills paid, short trip to bank. It is a peaceful drizzly day with grey sky and I am loving the water that's falling on grass and plants.

[Norma]

It is now time to head home from a wonderful winter in AZ. I always have mixed feelings, but it will be nice to be home again. I have so missed my great big TV,my great big computer monitor and my big king size bed. We don't have anything like that down here.

Had our final brunch with Cowinkie and Sweetie and my life long friends since grade 8 who also live here in the winter. Same place we had Christmas dinner with Cowinkie and Sweetie and ds. Today is our final Monday Lunch Bunch (8) of us. What is really great is that when the end of November arrives again we can do all of this all over. We will see C and S Tuesday night when they take us to their
"special hideaway place" for dinner. Sweetie says blindfolds will be expected. What!!!! I hope he doesn't wear a blindfold while driving that cool new car. It is a beautiful car and we have ridden in it.

Our bad memory this year was losing our "adopted son". He died on the 18th of cancer. We will make a stop on the way home as we always do to hug the family. They will be coming up to Northern Nevada for a memorial for him on the 5th and we will certainly be there. We had Thanksgiving with him and we talked on the phone every day until the end. I am so sad but glad he is out of his misery and in a better place. It won't be the same without him.

Lucylee I loved your comments on the George Strait concert. We love him! He has been a favorite of ours since we married 30 years ago. He is a class act for sure. (His wife's name is Norma, BTW. )

[Lilac]

Sadie, that is wonderful news that your arm is working so well and without pain, as long as you pace yourself.

Norma, I have so enjoyed hearing about the fun you have had with Cowinkie and Sweetie this winter.

I woke up with my hip hurting and it kind of radiated around front to the pelvic area. I have been putting my heated rice bag on it. I looked up the symptoms and it said sciatic nerve pain. Later when I stood up from eating lunch, I was having pain in my leg. I would rather it be that, than something else.

Have made several of my DPC this morning. I did leave a message for the carpet layer that I would like to use to call. I talked to another guy who ran an ad in the paper. He just lays carpet as a side job. We might consider him for our bedroom. I asked this guy for a recommendation on what kind of carpet to buy. He said 100% nylon. Earlier this am I had called the carpet cleaner that I use and asked for his recommendation. He said 100% nylon. I told him that when we had had this conversation 2+ years ago, that is what he recommended then and I just checked to see if it had changed.

I was talking to dd2 this am, when the school nurse had called. Dgs8 had thrown up. She picked him up and made a dr. appt for him. He has complained off and on that his tummy hurt. She wants to make sure it is not his appendix. He hasn't had an appetite. She just feels something is off and wants to check it out.

[Nancy]

I woke up late hens were clucking. Had a low at 3 a.m. so did th e drill for that journaled a bit and s2s and went back to bed. Later started laundry, wound a hank of yarn into a ball. Did some outside zone stuff, baby n came, dumped trash, swept mopped. Lunch is done. Spiffed the bathroom. Next lol needs attn. Vacume. Sigh I can do this. Zooming poof

[Harriet]

Dove, I think you are wise to stick with a once-in-a-long-while project until completion. If you just add it to your recurring cards or other planning, it can seem "bigger" than it really is, and risk becoming something you dread. Good job getting to the "M"s!

((Norma and Mr. Guy)) I had no idea you were dealing with such a difficult illness of someone so close to you. It's wonderful you found ways to stay close.

Smart to photograph a lot, Emptynester, if this plant dies after bloom. You're pretty artistic so you'll probably be very pleased with your "gallery" of time-lapse . Dd15 always photographs nature shots from a very low perspective for one different angle (but then, she is young and has no problem lying on the ground if she wants).

Sadie, what a great report on your healing! Terrific.

That's interesting that Lynlee and Harmony have a stack and add to it from below, take away from the top. I fold each one once from crotch up to waistband and roll that rectangle sideways. Then I have them side-by-side in rolls in the drawer just like they look in multipacks in the stores. I don't know why I do that - have been doing it so long the data on the idea is lost in the drawers of my brain. Definitely a cotton girl - both for comfort and from my ob-gyn's opinion all these years.

Blood work done today along with P.O., bank, and pharmacy 1. Dd had a make-up biology test after school (from time of her grandfather's death) and so I read in the parking area until she got to me. I've always liked to have a child with me when I have blood taken so my kids would grow up thinking of it as no big thing. Interestingly, the tape and cotton were so cumbersome this time that I really needed her to help me get my jacket back on!

And now.... ...
dd today = dejected daughter
Despondent child has been told she will have to serve the dreaded ISS tomorrow. She wails, "I'm going to jaaaaiiiil!" This terrible thing ("In School Suspension" for one day ) is happening to her because she has reached 6 tardies this year. I'm quite sure part of this is due to our difficulties because of funeral, the hospital being so far away, etc. Had we actually kept her out all day one of those days, rather than trying to get her to some of her later classes, it would have been called an absence like the funeral day itself was, and she wouldn't have this problem now. But I'm feeling philosophical about it and am fine with her having the experience of "paying" the agreed-upon cost of an arrangement she/we did sign for at the first of the year.

She says she's convinced this will go on her permanent record and colleges and employers will see her as a delinquent now. She is busy thinking of how to get around this boredom. She is supposed to do classwork sitting on a stool all day, with lunch brought to her. So since she has a pen and ink storyboard due in Graphic Design, she plans to create the most artistic storyboard ever seen, so that she can sketch all day. (smile) Somehow I doubt that will fly for all 6 hours, but we'll see.

[Sunny]

Oh, my goodness! I LOL at the levity in today's posts...as well as recent posts by Kathryn and Lucylee. Thank you for the wonderful opening today, Harriet, and Others responses. It was a much needed bright spot in an otherwise dull, dreary, rainy Monday!

My undies are of the nylon type (granny brief style) and are neatly folded (most of the time) as colors, black or white with their own kind. I was amused one time when I helped ddil#3 do her laundry when they visited at the panty style (almost no material) that young women are wearing nowadays! I would be forever trying to make comfortable adjustments...... Agree with Ivy -- I would never dream of throwing mine at anyone!

We've had rain off and on most of the day and I suppose so has Dee and Harmony. The grass will start growing for sure now.

MT, your agave is pretty. The bloom will be beautiful.
Norma, It is nice to hear of the good times you've had visiting with Cowinkie & Sweetie during your winter break, but I know what you mean when you say you will be glad to be home. I'm so sorry for you and your dfriends on the loss of their dson.
Lilac, sorry to hear that your dgs8 is sick; hopefully nothing serious.
Harriet, too bad the school wouldn't excuse the tardy for dd because of the family funeral.

Our weekend was nice. Ds#2 stopped Friday on his way home from work to pick up the strawberries we had for his dfamily. He and dgds love them, ddil#2 doesn't eat fruit! (Don't know how anyone could not like some kind of fruit.) Saturday, dh and I drove to dfam#1 to drop off some berries for them. Found out that ddil, dgs10 and dgd13 were all sick, earaches, coughs, sore throats, etc. We didn't go in! Dgd16 came out to the car to carry the box in for them. We decided to ride the extra 8 miles north to walk through the H obby L obby. It's the closest one to our area and we go only when we are up that way.

Sunday we met dfam#2 at O'Keefe's Irish Bar & Grille for supper. They have really tasty food. We hadn't seen them for a few weeks so it was nice to visit with them -- and dinner was their treat! Wouldn't even let me put the tip down!

I kept myself busy today with doing some focus cleaning in the small bedroom and in family room, also reorganized the desk area and my sewing area. Still some decluttering to do, but I'm happy with how it looks.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Harriet: I gotta say, dd15's school should rethink their tardy policy. That was written for irresponsible children, not those who are dealing with family crisis. Would they do that to a student whose mother was dying? What about one caring for a younger sibling due to family issues and, since high school starts so much before lower grades, is late daily? It is one thing for a child face consequences for willful behaviour, another when that behaviour is when they are being responsible family members.

I was just thinking how dd15 has lost two grandfathers in a year. My kids had the same thing (with a grandmother thrown in for good measure.) Its hard on them.

Update on my progress:

At lunch I coloured in the floor plan of the apartment. Each room/area of the apartment was assigned a colour matching the stickers/tape I got. I've coloured each area of the apartment its colour, labeled the rooms and drawn in the furniture. This is a follow-on to our work yesterday making sure we had accounted for all our furniture. We'll label boxes as they are packed with the appropriate stickers (the stickers are now in each of the rooms here so they are handy when packing.

The finished floor plan is a work of art and dutifully posted on the kitchen wall so all can appreciate it!

The tea tins were painted with chalkboard paint. I now will have five identical tins for bulk spices (in bags waiting to go into the spice jars) plus one tube/tin for cinnamon sticks. These will probably be in a cupboard but will look pretty and organized so I'm pleased. I can't believe I've drunk 5 tins of that tea over the years. I have another 2 tins left but can now stop drinking it daily if I want since there's no way I'll finish the next tin before we move (or Christmas for that matter!)

Choir was fun. Picked up the mail after. I'm supposed to be on the treadmill now since we gave up walking due to time constraints and the cold. It has got cold again, here. Sigh...

After choir, dh and I worked on the office. He has moved the furniture he's keeping to its rough location in the new office, to test out the layout. So far, so good (it's been 15 minutes!) He went through the books and tossed half. Including all the ones he's written, including extras. Not sure I agree with that, since the kids may want extra copies (dd has a set, not sure about ds.) I may pull those out of the recycle bin. The boxes we packed today are labeled with red tape. I'll have to go through the filing cabinets eventually, but for now dh has said we've done enough.

I have stuff to do tonight in prep for tomorrow's busy day of errands. And I still have to clean up the kitchen.

[Ivy]

I woke up at 4:45 a.m. because last night, my craving was for take-out pizza. I'm not only lactose-intolerant, but there are things on the pizza, which don't digest, so I was 'up' for the day. I managed a 1/2-hour nap from 7:30 - 8 a.m. though. I did 1 lol, have been crocheting, reading, sorted the mail, and not much else.

We'd planned a yarn-shopping trip on Thurs. or Fri., but when I saw the prices, which were not sale prices, on-line, I decided to check the 3 totes, for afghans, for the 3 grands again. I forgot how I'd bought 2 Lbs. of yarn, for 2 grsons and forgot how I'd gone through my own stash, to find all of dgd's yarns on hand. If I hadn't double-checked, it'd have cost us about $30 for three 1-Lb. skeins. NOW, since I HAVE the yarns, I'll save the $$ for something else, we need better. Like gas or groceries!

It's been sunny all day. The birds singing at dawn were so LOVELY! The bunnies are out, birds, squirrels, and chipmunks. The does fowl (is that the right spelling?) in April, so they may be laying low, grazing, to get more nutrition and food in them, for the time they begin nursing. Last Spring, I was outdoors, had been hiking up to the lane, mailbox and back, then walked up to our backyard drain field in back. On the spur logging road, into our woods, stood a doe, nursing her fawn, with spots on it still, with wobbly legs. I just stood there, watching them, she watched me back, didn't budge and the fawn wasn't scared at all either. It was preoccupied with its lunch, I guess. So cute. We have 1 doe who has twin fawns every August, which (our wildlife agent friend said) is out-of-season, but "In Nature, anything's possible." I look forward to August and fall, watching them grow before winter sets in.

Have a GR8 evening. Was just "popping" in for a CUOP.
P. S. DH is pressure cooking our 3rd corned beef brisket since St. Patrick's Day! I wanted to let you know, he cooks it in an electric pressure cooker, which is called "Double R Ranch." He cooks it in apple juice, it's flavorful, so tender, and wonderful. This is why we keep eating it! It's so good warmed in the microwave for a quick lunch, too.

[Nancy]

I agree with k in c's sentiment for ((Harriet's dd)).
Got through home work w dgson.
Dd has deleted her fb acct. Bc of all the drama what ever that means sigh so it is a pain to communicate with her. I hate e-mail with this tablet.

Dinner is in the oven. I have about half of the clothes folded. Now all are fo, ded still need to put them away and unload the dishes and vacuum... that probably will not happen today.

[Lilac]

For the record I agree with Kathryn and Nancy!

The dr. thinks dgs8 is either constipated or has the beginning of gastritis, so it is wait and see, after dgs8 takes Miralex or whatever it is called.