Finally Friday Conga Day

[DeeClutter]

Can't imagine why you'd be forgetting anything, Kathryn!

Just finished putting away 2 LOL. Still not convinced these dryers are very great. Our laundry room on this side should be done in hopefully 2 or 3 weeks. I will wait until then to judge. Couldn't figure out why I couldn't get the money to go in last week one day. They had raised the price by a quarter! But I don't think the dryers are going any longer or drying any better. I'm (literally) not a happy camper. And of course their words are, "We don't want to lose customers". But if it's going to be a lot cheaper to go to town that's what I'll do and probably won't be the only one. They supposedly were getting the dryers to work more efficiently -but all I see is additional price. Oh, and here comes the manager -later.

Adding a few minutes later: I forgot she had bought a large package of Angus beef hamburgers. We've been having them on Thursday nights for the Classic Car Shows and they seem to be very good -I usually don't care for frozen packaged burgers. But decided I'd spoil our kids a little with these. (She gets them at S am's). So if we have a get-together Sunday evening think I'll be pretty well prepared. I'll buy corn and try cooking it via the cooler method and buy some salt potatoes to fix. I already have the 3-bean salad marinating and think I'll make a jello salad with pistachio pudding, cottage cheese, crushed pineapple and cool whip. Should all be an easy do. I already have Zweigle's hots as well.

[Ivy]

Hello!

I put a green cup in the main/guest bathroom for Dgrson-17 & an extra hand towel, changed dirty hand towels, put his shower towel up in the master bathroom. Our walk-in shower's large, has a bench & a great shower head, so guests use it, too. Also, there is a grab bar & I keep my back scrubbing brush laying across it, since it's a horizontal bar. It pays to keep the shower done up (clean) b/c of guests coming. You never know when someone, (dkids/grkids) might come & want to shower or need to shower or want a jet bath. Need to figure out how to clean cat hair out of the tub, w/o too much trouble. Might fix the Swiffer dust mop or use the fluffy ceiling fan duster on a pole. I'll get inside the tub, too, & clean it w/Windex. That way, if Dgrson-17 wants a jet bath, a quick wiping out w/a crocheted facecloth/dishcloth, will fix it up. In the guest bathroom, I have this legged square dish made from malachite or something. The green plastic glass, for rinsing out after brushing teeth, fits in that 4-legged dish so perfectly! So when Dgrson-17 leaves, I DO believe I'll keep a cup in there, to drink out of & change it out often. I hung fresh towels from the linen cupboard, I will fold & put away the dried towels when they're done drying. I need to dust/dust mop the great room area/master bedroom & sweep & mop the master bathroom, wash the throw rugs in there, so it's nice a fresh for Dgson-17. I have 3 cards out, decided to write by hand, instead, as I need to save computer print-out printer ink for submissions. Inks are $$ & although I can claim them on "supplies" for taxes, it still is OUCH to buy! DH got me 4 ink pens in a pkg. yesterday: 1 red, 1 purple, 1 black, 1 blue. I use them all the time to journal, hand write outlines or by hand & to write letters, & TO DO LISTS! So I'm always in the market for new pens. Emptied out 3 pens last week. 2 black, 1 blue. Oh, well. It was a real treat to get new pens. ♥

I'll dump trash again, will clean the kitchen up, & since Dgrson-17 HATES banana bread, I'll throw out the bananas. I do very little baking anymore. I used to bake a LOT! But with empty nesters & DH being diabetic, my dieting, it's futile to bake, I think.

Kathryn , I'm glad you had a cry-free shower. Congratulations on the progress in the dining room, too! Good luck today.

Dee , I hope the rise in cost to dry will be followed with an improvement to better drying & more efficient dryers, too. What a frustration to pay more, to have the same problematic outcome with the dryer.

Am not 100% this a.m. w/my digestion again. Will take it easier as I slowly baby-step my day. I'm thrilled that I'm in regular shoes & regular custom-made orthotics now. The comical thing is, when I wore my AFO's, they had long Velcro straps, so when I put my feet on the ottoman or recliner foot rest, I always lifted my feet up again, to get the strap to fold under my ankle, as not to accidentally train them to poking out straight, thus adding more attention. I'm finding myself "adjusting" my straps and there are NO STRAPS THERE! I have no clue when it'll "dawn" on me that I'm not wearing the AFO's & stop with ridiculous old habit. It makes me LOL at myself every time. Oh, the funny things we do, don't we?

[helia]

Quick ci. . . Done:
x bought and prepped panera gift cards; one of the moms stopped by and picked them up for me.
x about half of a.m. routine - kitchen, s2s, teeth, folded 1 lol
x various conversations re: plans for GG's party
x emails to ddad and to dfriend B
x lunch

Is that all??

I am waiting for the last friend to arrive, and then I will drive the crew to the bowling alley. They'll walk from there to the movie theater, and I hope dh will pick them up.

I have some words ready to say to dd18 at the small group party; each mom will have 1 - 2 minutes to say some words of affirmation to their daughter. I also need to prep some words for a friend of dd18's who often attends, but no one is sure if her mom can come. If she can't, I'll be her substitute mom. It might be good to have some notes on a note card to prompt me.

Oh - the friend is here! I'm off to drive 6 teenagers across town.

[Sadie]

Hello Dear Ladies,

Hours cut this week so going in later. Dson23 gets a whole Sunday off.

It's been raining here but it is back to being hot.

I hate Obamacare. DH got a letter that says we(DH, Dson18 and I) have to prove we are citizens. Since Dson18 and I aren't even on this insurance, I don't see why we have to prove anything. Called there and told a lady there, she said she didn't see why they want any proof from me either. DH was muttering behind me about Obamacare and finally said he wanted to talk to her too. Said where the insurance card says POS on it, it meant piece of ......

Anyway he handed the phone back to me and she said she understood his frustrations with it since it doesn't cover any local doctors, pharmacies or hospitals. Said he has to go over 40 miles away for check-ups, med refills and anything else related. We just don't use their doctors and pharmacy and pay for it ourselves. It has turned into just a hospital policy for him.

So I got to send in a copy of his birth certificate which looks strange since his mother and father's parents rights were terminated when he was 3 and there are no parents listed on it. Also got to send in some figures from his business, which can be misleading because some months he doesn't have much work and others he does. Think I will try to do an average for it.

Going to rest a bit, maybe read a little.

[Nancy]

H. Wants to go camping ... sigh... bs ,nas been all, overmthe place today. I'm doing laundry, dishes have been washed. Lucked out will get a diff. Weekend. I was ot ready. Have the laundry nerly half done now. Almost ready to do his work stuff.

Dishesnhave been unloaded I watered. No t-storms today so far.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Last of the boxes are out of the kitchen. As is one of the rolling racks. It looks like everything may fit. (There's still lots of stuff left on the table and counters to find homes for.) Not everything is in a logical place due to height issues. And there will be a traffic jam between juice jugs and thermos.

Time to go to bed now. I just broke a decorative dish. At least now I don't have to find a home for it! It is hard to see so many beautiful, blue, decorative touches and have no place for them since I've chosen black and white for this kitchen. I hadn't thought that through. Blue and white would have fresh and new but allowed me to keep my old accents. Too late now, I've spent a small fortune on new dishtowels, etc. etc.

Dh and I walked to a fish restaurant for dinner tonight and then explored the woods next to the apartment building. Found on-street parking for ds when he's staying here and the short-cut to the transit station (which is also a short cut to the center of the shopping and restaurant area.)

My legs are just killing me. One leg it is the knee, the other is my PF. The stairs up to the restaurant were really painful and is just existing right now. Didn't quite make 10K steps today. I'll be a couple hundred short. The pain was bad enough in the afternoon that I finally took a long break and elevated them, and napped a bit. Didn't think to ice at the same time.

[Harriet]

Kathryn, first it's fine to change furnishings about with seasons, such as black and white through summer into fall and a holiday change incorporating the blue, or more colors, through other months. Or, you could consider searching out some blue/black textiles and letting those integrate some blue touches into the room right away. I'm sorry your legs are bugging you.

Cathy, did you finally get the detailing done? I hope you got an apology.

I napped today. I fear I am back to the lack of energy and need for a nap, which I was supposed to be avoiding. So here I am after 11, not yet feeling sleepy and worrying about. Hopefully it is a glitch. Dd slept in until 9 today, strange. So I hope this simply shows we are due some down time.

Dd34 reports that the boys are doing all the laundry chores right now as she recuperates, rests and cares for baby, and as Daddy goes back to work. I'm sure this is a time of accepting things not done perfectly. I'm glad to know that there is work to fill their hours and it can also make Mommy's life easier right now.

We need a grocery shopping trip. I dread it so much. I need to be rested and plan these things. I need to print out one of the many shopping/menus printable forms available and "just do it".

Driver's Ed is saying parents should take child to a parking lot to practice. Hmmm... ... okay, we'll do that. I hope all the parents have the common sense to realize they probably mean empty parking lots.

[Ivy]

Sadie , What a run-around, frustration & you have to go so far for services, too! (((♥)))

Kathryn , ((( ))) to you, too. Can you ice with your knee above your heart, on the recliner or a sofa, on a stack of pillow? Do you have a knee brace?

I got a knee brace when I saw an ortho doc for the knee, he prescribed 1, an MRI & PT. My MRI was fine.

(((Nancy))) , It sounds like you're not planned to go camping. Sorry for your DH's plans. Will you go this weekend? Who tends the hens while you're gone?

Helia , Your plans for the party sound heart ♥-warming.

I wrote 2 letters, had 1 sort of nap with my new U-Shape Buckwheat Hulls neck rest pillow. It smells like the prairie grasses of home, as a girl/teen growing up & my horse's hay, so I feel so relaxed to have such "odd" aromatherapy.

I put the forest green tablecloth w/matching placemats on the dining room table with a reed mat in the middle & a bright green big bowl in the center. It's a more masculine look, for dgrson-17, coming on Sunday. I have his bathroom taken care of, will dump trash from the bathrooms tomorrow, dust the great room area & our bedroom, dust mop, & DH will vacuum. I'll clean out the tub in case Dgrson wants a jet bath. He's going to have fun here.

I put my beading stuff into the main office, where we don't use a computer anymore. It made more room on my next to the top office shelf in the small office. I'd been reading through an organizing magazine, got a cool idea, & did it. On that shelf, I've got 5 horizontal stacks of books with sentimental photos, etc.. on the stacks. Spines are easy to read, stacks short enough to get books out easily. Looks so nice. Then, I decluttered the bin, bottom & middle shelves on 1 end, to match what I'd already done yesterday. It looks so warm, inviting, & nice in here now, which makes it a true joy to come in here to work- or play.

I did 2 LOL, put them away myself, as DH is super exhausted from stacking firewood today & getting more into the dump truck bed. He's watching the Mariners & Royals play, it's a very close game, so I hope we win, for my tired Papa.

We're very excited about Dgrson coming this Sunday.

Everybody have a wonderful weekend!

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Ivy, just did the knee icing with my leg up. Now I'm icing my foot. Knee is really bad so I have my cane in reach in case I have to get up in the night.

[lucylee]

(((Kathryn)))

No congo-ing today around here... smh... when we I EVER have a "normal" week again??? Today, dgs was here for about 2.5 hours. I did manage to walk 2 miles w/ds, and I colored my hair. Otherwise...
Well -- dh & I went to CVS, also.
Then -- visitation for dcousin, and we stayed almost 4 hours... family arrived at 5:00, visitation from 6-8, but it was almost 9:00 when when we left. I know dh was exhausted. Dbro arrived around 6:00, I guess, and dmom... around 7:00? DS/DDIL/DGS got there before her, and I spent a lot of time following dgs around, up and down the hall, etc... and dh said he did also... (kinda complaining that ds/ddil just leave him to us when we're around.) DH is really fit to be tied re: tomorrow, b/c we will get dgs between the funeral and the cemetery, and then we are invited to eat with the family @ daunt's church. DH says he just cannot "chase him around" any more... we have got to come home. * sigh * Of course, I want to stay for the dinner... but I don't know if that will work out or not. It IS kinda exhausting to try to keep up with an almost-2-year-old in a crowd like that.

Anyway... it's tough... daunt, cousins, everyone was holding up pretty well... I guess they saw dcousin sick enough that they came to terms with letting her go. I'm not sure I did. But I know she's in a better place now, and how could anyone want her back in this world after she's seen Heaven? So... I'm okay... but this one is about the toughest I've had to deal with. There's a song I love, heard on the Grand Ole Opry one night -- Jealous of the Angels, by Jennifer Bostic, I think. That's how I feel tonight... "I'm just jealous of the angels, around the throne tonight."