Wednesday Wondering

[Nancy]

K in C a busy time for you!
Thanks for sharing.
I have gotten the dishes loaded in the dish washer.
ToddlerN has napped has been coughing again.
Made 3 calls on craft stuff w/out success on any.

[DeeClutter]

You have gotten a lot done, Kathryn! WTG!

I've been busy with dh tonight. We finally uncovered the 'deck bin' in front of the RV and threw away the tarp. He finished our gazebo on the end of the deck so we got all our chairs & table out & put them in there & put down our deck mat. He also strung our changing icicle lights along the edge of the roof. So now we can have them on as night lights when we're out there. Felt so nice to sit out there and not be bothered by any bugs (though I'm not sure there are any out right now). He had to take a shelf off the 'kitchen' cart that the fridge is on to make room. Our door from our bedroom no longer will work as the gazebo is in front -I can open the door a little for ventilation. Hopefully we never need that exit -we do have a window over our bed also that pushes out for emergencies. Straightened the rest of the front of the RV so it looks good. Still have a mound of rubber mulch that dh wants to put up on the berm -he just hasn't had time or if he did the energy to do it.

[lucylee]

(((OKay))) (((BIG HUGS))) That is so tough... trying to stretch yourself so thin... could the older dgc come spend the weekend with y'all once a month maybe? It's several hours' drive time away, right? That just makes everything so much more complicated. Believe me, I know how it is to try to stretch between dinlaws and my own parents, who were never more than 10 miles apart!

Hmmm... have to say... wondering how this new "normal" is going to be for us... for the first time in 9 years, I think, dh is not going to be going to "check on" his dparents every afternoon...
Do I have to start filling that time by checking on MY dmom?
I hope not... I swear... the clutter on that kitchen table and in her adjoining office room just drives me absolutely beyond insane... and when I go out there mid-afternoon and she's still in her pajamas...
* sheesh *
I am thinking though... maybe once a week, or every other week -- maybe on the day her housekeeper comes, when she will already be in work-mode? Maybe I could put it in my routine to go offer my services to help her dig out and organize the paperwork then?
* sigh *

Of course, I am pretty sure there will be a LOT of time spent helping clean out dmil's house and * hopefully * helping ds/ddil move, maybe by the first of the year? No one knows what the future holds, but at least dbil's first reaction was not, "Well, that will never work..." to this sort of division of property. So we're hopeful that things will be a bit calmer than we feared.

Tonight, dh started organizing the baby room a bit more, so I finished up and by putting the changing table and bed in an L-shape instead of the way they were, I have opened up a HUGE amount of floor space for dgs to play. I hope dh approves -- it blocks access to ds's (vinyl) record collection a bit more, but ds said that was fine. For all practical purposes, these records could be locked up in off-site storage; he rarely looks at them.
OH MY... I JUST REALIZED... if ds/ddil move to larger house, I will have sooo much more space in MY house!!! WOW! What a happy thought!

Y'all, I don't know -- I feel bad talking about this, even... and I hope y'all don't think we're a bunch of vultures swooping in on dmil's property. DS was perfectly well prepared to stay in his little crackerbox of a house for years and years to come... but the land dmil's house sits on has been in dh's family for probably 150 years, and dh just can't bear the thought of it being sold outside of the family. His grandfather's house used to be just down the road, but it burned a few years ago, so this is the only thing they own on that original land. We are not in any hurry at all... but we were really afraid dbil WAS going to be in a hurry to start selling things... * and we certain wanted to nip that in the bud! * -- and when dbil brought up the subject yesterday of how to handle some of the rental property... dh thought he'd let him know how he felt about the other... and we were just sooo pleasantly surprised that dbil seemed to think that might be a possible solution.
And ds, true to form, asked dh later, "Am I cheating YOU out of something if you let me have that house out of your half of your inheritance?"
DH said, "Don't you even think about that. I don't need a house, and I don't want half the money that it's worth... I'm going to be FINE."
DH sooo much wants dgs to grow up in that house where he grew up and where ds has sooo many memories.

I've still got to clean bathroom -- not the one adjoining guest bedroom, but the main "public" bathroom... and then, I think I'm out. The house probably needs dusting and vacuuming all over, but dcousin will arrive at 12:30 -- he just called apologizing for keeping us up so late... LOL...
and tomorrow morning, we'll probably get up in time to eat a bowl of cereal and head to the church. So I'm not going to worry about the house.

[lucylee]

Thinking about those teenage gypsies...
Wouldn't it be neat if one person could stall them a bit, pondering over magazines, while another member of the household called police? If you could be sure police would show up in time, and were not fearful for your safety in the meantime.
I wish I'd called police to get rid of Kirby vacuum cleaner salesmen.

I don't think my Electrolux is ever going to be what it was before ds/ddil used it on dog hair... and it was probably never as powerful as the Kirby... but my goodness I am glad to be rid of the Kirby. (They have it now -- notice I did not say they USE it now, just that it is in their possession.)

We got ds/ddil home from her colonoscopy w/rental car, and then when I was talking about running into daunt at drug store and offering dcousin the unused juice boxes dmil had, dh insisted we go to dcousin's house right then and deliver them. (These are Boost Breeze Protein/Energy drinks in fruit flavors.) Dcousin w/cancer has not much appetite either, and this was the only supplemental drink dmil would tolerate while in the hospital, so I thought it might do some good for dcousin. If she doesn't like them, maybe her dnephew and dgranddaughter will give them a try. They look just like kids' juice boxes.
More in J&C.

Hope you're feeling better now, Cowinkie!

Waving to Nancy! @ ToddlerN's help...

Glad your stomach feels better now, Ivy!

Oh -- ddil said they took two biopsies and she'll have to wait a couple weeks for results, but they believe she only has "non-erosive gastritis" -- fairly positive there are no signs of Chron's OR cancer... but doctor said he could see why she was having pain. However, he only prescribed Miralax for the time being and will wait on biopsy results to determine further treatment.

Woo Hoo for Kathryn!!! I should go back through all your posts and copy/paste for the perfect guide for moving!

[helia]

I can't remember where I was in my day when I last posted. This afternoon and evening, I did:
- pick up my glasses
- go to groc. store
- go to Walgreens
- make a salad
- respond to confusing email re: a question in dd18's small group; I'm not sure I helped.
- went to care team meeting
- folded and put away lol
- started new load
- ordered a taxi for tomorrow
- emailed R who thinks he is picking up my girls to take them to school tomorrow a.m. No, they found a ride. I didn't even realize he had been asked. Ack!!

Before bed:
- write out check for reeds
- pack
- tidy kitchen

I'll tend the hens in the morning when I put the check in the mailbox. Taxi will be here bright and early!

[Harmony]

Kathryn, that is how DH broke his hip, he stepped out onto the tile floor with wet feet. We have a very low sweep glass door out of the shower and we've put one of those little square rubber mats right there. It is low enough that the door will still open. We have a little terry mat beside it and we step from the dry rubber mat onto the terry one and stand there until our feet dry. We can kick that terry mat anywhere we need it, but not in front of that glass door.Do be careful!

I finished the last room except for washing and putting away one down comforter. I brought some other stuff in from another closet and organized that. The closet I'm putting stuff into still has one long shelf empty. I'm pleased at how it looks.

Cowinkie, feel better.
Helia, have a fun trip.

Was going to brunch tomorrow with a couple friends but it got cancelled as one lady has to wait for her a/c man. Did I tell you guys our one garage door broke and DH couldn't figure out how to fix it. We had to call the man, and he fixed it for $115.00, a switch up inside had gone bad. I thought that was a lot but at least we didn't have to have a new one.

[Nancy]

Dinner is done.
Mowed next door for today's exercise.

[Lynlee]

Kathryn - re bathroom mats - I have put down nonslip matting like is used in drawers in my bathroom. Today I cut another piece that is slightly thicker. I find they take the cold off the floor tiles, and I still have a bath mat in front of hand basin. I bought them from a discount store - Its approx 48cm wide. My bathroom door is cut short (I think it was meant to go on the toilet, only the builders got them mixed). I swear a breeze comes in under there in winter at night and I need to throw clothing down as a draught stopper. Of course my home isn't heated. Could you lock dh out if you use that bathroom?

Today's bathroom news
another thicker nonslip mat cut to fit. I might make a piece to fit toilet floor as well.
fixed shower curtain wire. Now it doesn't droop.
rehung shower curtains with easier rings. No fiddling needed.
Cut the shower curtains at tap end so I have easier access to grab rail (threaded the bath end bit behind the grab rail), and can get the curtain to dry more easily as it wont be doubled up in the corner.

fixed the downpipe ddog took out yesterday. Not properly fixed, but it keeps the water off the wall.

I'm calling yesterdays visit from home help a success.

[BookSaver]

Hello, villagers ~
I just realized that I haven't checked in yet today.

3Ds: I ran to The Big City first thing this morning to do a couple errands and buy groceries. Put dishes in to soak before I left, and washed them when I got home. Also did 2 loads of laundry today. Bonus: Re-potted tomato plants into containers as an experiment.

(I bought some heirloom tomato seedlings from someone at the library because I thought DH talked last year about missing home-grown tomatoes. He never got around to digging up a space in the old garden, though, and after a week and a half I was starting to get concerned about the little plants. We've never tried container gardening. Between the outdoors cats, neighbor dogs, rabbits, squirrels, raccoons, possoms, and every once in awhile a deer walking through the back yard, who knows what the chances are of any of these surviving. As DH reminded me, though, we once had very healthy tomatoes that grew from seeds thrown in the compost heap. Tomatoes are not necessarily delicate plants.)

We had fun at LEGO Club this afternoon. Not as many kids as we've been having at our after-school meetings, but I think that will be true all summer. In fact, I liked it better with fewer kids because that meant I had time to go around and talk to several of them.

I'll be at sewing day camp for the next couple days. I have done as much prep work as I have energy to do this evening. I know that I've over-packed, but I'm too tired tonight to think any more.

If I get up early enough in the morning, I'll spend some time reducing how much I'm taking. For example, I have packed way too many spools of thread. However, I need natural sunlight to decide which shades of blue will work best with the blouse fabrics.

I'm taking 3 projects:
* bright cotton prints for potholders, because my oven mits are in terrible shape
* a blouse that I cut out awhile ago and never got around to sewing
* fabric to cut out a summer top from instructions that I saw on public tv
I'm only going to have 2 days, so these will be more than enough.

This time I helped put together the menu for lunches and suppers. I made sure to sign up first for food items to bring so I wouldn't get stuck AGAIN buying expensive meat when other people are only bringing a bag of potato chips.

DH has a refrigerator & freezer full of food to get him through cooking his own supper for 2 nights.

[CathyS]

Re: bath mats.

Mike puts a towel on the floor after he has closed the door and puts it over the side of the tub to dry after he is done with it (most of the time) and before he opens the door. I do the same, but I make sure I am holding the edge of the towel bar before I step out of the tub/shower. I have seen the hint (somewhere) that if you have a tub that you will not use most of the time, maybe once or twice a year, to get a piece of wood to cover the tub, so that the wood acts like a lid and a shelf all at the same time. The shower curtain is still in place and it hides the stuff stored behind the curtain.

Staging at my dad's. Went up there last night. WOW!! It's gorgeous. Really nice artificial flowers every where. Different seating arrangements than I would have ever thought about. Very pale colours for the 2 love seats that they brought in. Very light colours on all the beds, with very thin white quilts across the end of all 5 beds. A large red oil painting at one end of the kitchen, with only 2 of the chairs beside a table that has always had 4 chairs around it. Red placemats and flowers and accessories in the kitchen to go with the heavy pine table and white dishes. Can the words modern, contemporary and chic be used in the same sentence? Every blind was rolled all the way up, curtains were open wide and all of the California shutters were wide open. Various chairs from the kitchen were in the bedrooms, rocking chairs from the bedrooms were in the basement with quilts over the arms. The coffee table that never moved from the living room in 40 years was replaced with a nice small table that used to be in the basement... It just looked so nice and so different. What a great way to remember the house-from-hell that I had awful memories of. I think I will go up tomorrow and take pictures so I can remember just how nice and welcoming it looks now.