WINTRY WEDNESDAY

[helia]

Sitting down to eat a Lean Cuisine for a quick dinner. I ate way too much last night after dh left. The casserole is in the oven for dd16 to take when she leaves - in maybe 20 or so minutes?

I was not home from the meeting this a.m until almost 11:30 a.m. so it took longer than I thought. I prepped for class and had a bit of lunch before heading out the door again. At work, I managed to get the finals and interview forms (for speaking evaluation) all printed out for 2 classes, so I think I'm set for giving exams tomorrow and Friday.

I'm leaving in a little less than an hour to go to the concert with ds. I hope to be home again before 10 pm - because I will have things to finish up tonight.

Still to do today:
- concert with ds; leave about 6:50. Home by 10 pm, I'm hoping. How long can one play the ukulele anyway?
- find an extra activity for S/L class (higher level) to keep them occupied after they're done with the written part of the exam while I am still pulling students out of the room for one-on-one interviews. I might just bring in some language-oriented games that are in the office.
- prep a little for moms group tomorrow. Each teacher has one question to start out with. Mine is the least "deep," which I don't mind as I have little time to prep for it. We did discuss everything very thoroughly this morning.
- ideally, make progress on laundry. I'm not sure this will happen unless I decide to stay up until midnight.
- ideally, bring back to the house the garbage and recycling bins.

I'm off to poke around the web for appropriate classroom articles - on Thanksgiving, I'm thinking.

[FelineFriend]

I wrote a "Pre-Turkey Day" to-do list, for things I want to get done by Wed. the 26th. It's nice there is a full week to get them done by. Have done a lot already, this past week, while I was MIA.

I just tidied the coffee table up in the bunny room, moved CD's to an oak TV tray, tidied the desk in there, etc... My office was cleaned last night, after submitting a story, so need not be concerned with that. I'd like to sort through my great room end table baskets, get some reading material in them purged.

We're eating crab cakes, etc... for dinner. We love them. ♥ ♥

I need to run and dry a LOL, then I'm done and will have, once again, an empty basket. Dkitty loves it when the basket is empty. She sniffs it, looks up at me, with her approval, and it's so comical.

The air inversion is getting better, so asthma will be better, as we slowly go into the raining days this week. Looking forward to it. It's hard to believe NY got so much snow!

Have a GR8 evening, Everyone!

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Back from dinner. I didn't really enjoy the food but loved the company.

We'll have breakfast with them in the morning and then be on our way. I've hung with this wife in other cities around the world and so have had great time catching up with her. The second wife I met in Santa Fe at a house party we crashed. She'll be hosting the next meeting which is in Glasgow so now I want to go to that one. Dh isn't sure whether he'll still be part of this committee by then (next May.)

I've practiced my anthems several times. Can't make any more progress without a keyboard to pick out the alto line so I'll stop (and cross two more items off my list.)

[Harriet]

Kathryn I have had good results with an online keyboard as I look through minister's weekly emails. This simple one has been fine for picking out unfamiliar tunes for me, but I believe there are more elaborate ones.

Twins' Mom, the grocery that is new-est (we have two new near enough to shop) in the next town over is the high-end healthy foods one you have mentioned. I went for the first time today and at first thought I was not impressed, since produce was very like other stores here. But the packaged foods aisles were eye-opening with many new choices. So by the time I got to the deli areas I was pretty impressed and finding things to try. I came home with small portions from deli for my own lunch - an interesting new prepared salmon and mac&cheese. They had more flavors of my Zevia soda and I believe the new-to-me cherry cola could become a new favorite.

[DeeClutter]

Had Thanksgiving dinner at church tonight. Nice time! Dsonil did end up going and dd also bought another young man who had been at school helping her with the school's float. He's now 24 but an 'old' student of dd's and absolutely loves my dh. I took that ham which I cooked in the crockpot -turned out fabulous by the way.

Dh said he talked to ds-A tonight. The Buffalo Bills are hiring people to help shovel out the stadium for Sunday's game. DS has volunteered one front end loader to go there and may send the one named for "me" (some of you may know my real name) out there tomorrow. May be the only way I'll ever go to that stadium. Doubt if there'll be a contest for the most snow this winter. Buffalo already has almost their total for the year. Dh is talking to DS now -he ended up driving up the one loader. As far as I can see there's another storm headed their way.

Heading to bed =see you all tomorrow.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

I've mapped out a way for our friends to get home when they leave on Friday or Saturday. They will be taking a more inland route.

I've wasted most of the evening. Dh isn't working so I've sat here with my feet up and done nothing too. Will head to bed now. Long day tomorrow.

[helia]

Feeling grumpy. Was finally home for good about 20 minutes ago at 9:50 pm. Still need to do some things. ETD is. . .a little over 10 hours from now. Good grief! How can I maintain a home when I'm never actually in it? I was out of the house for about 8 hours today, about 7.5 hours yesterday. Tomorrow will be the standard 9 hours out. Friday will be the standard 6 out + 1 hour tutoring in my home (unavailable to do housework). This is NOT all payroll stuff so it's not like I'm getting paid for all these hours. I'm not counting time out of the house running errands either. . . Fortunately, I do get a break next week.

Despite being out all evening and now behind in what I need to have done in 10 hours, the concert was wonderful! I hadn't realized a ukulele could make that kind of music. The musician was Jake Shimabukuro. He's from Hawaii, of course.

We're thinking of having a quiet Thanksgiving - just our family, not inviting anyone over. That idea is sounding better and better to me. . .

Kathryn, I believe dh and I went to that same shoe museum the time we were in Toronto together! It was the weekend I joined him after he gave invited talks or a seminar or something at Univ. Toronto. It was a very interesting museum.

OK - off to look up something for moms group tomorrow. Then, I'll go to bed. I'm also tired. I can get up early and get some work done then. I think better in the a.m. - and everything always seems less daunting in the a.m. too.

[lucylee]

I've been catching up on ironing today... LOTS of ironing... but it's all done, and I passed the time nicely -- 45 minute phone call w/dmom, plus the most recent issues of The Affair, NCSI New Orleans, and Big Bang Theory. DH put all the clothes away.

Need to order a couple of books from amazon. The friend at church and I are sending books to our two college mentoree (?) girls, who are sisters. Luckily, the friend is doing no better at being a great mentor than I am! She did say she had bought hers a Thanksgiving card. We're going to send the books for Christmas gifts. I am sooo relieved that she is NOT one of those people who is just constantly DOING stuff like this -- you know, the kind that would be sending care packages every few weeks and all that. OTOH, I know she and I both should be doing more -- but it seems my girl is awfully self-sufficient, anyway. I email her at least every month, and she's doing fine, it seems -- looks like she's teaching or working in the children's ministry at her college church, and she will be starting nursing school next semester. And I think she has a pretty steady boyfriend, who looks like a nice guy from the FB pics she posts... so I think she's doing very well. I just try to check in on her and let her know I'm thinking about her.
I'll share about this book in the reading thread, also.

FelineFriend -- so glad you're back! A lot of us were getting worried about you!

I saw that about the Buffalo Bills stadium, Dee! And all the other snow pics from that area... oh my goodness... I bet your ds is exhausted!

Talk on the news also about a new P ublix opening around here, Harriet... but not CLOSE around here... ddil sometimes likes to stop at the one in the town where she works at the hospital... but it's inconvenient for regular weekly shopping. So we're just stuck w/Wmart and a couple of smaller chains. Oh well.
If y'all are talking about W hole F oods -- I've never even been IN one of those.

Sounds like Kathryn had a good day with the ladies, even if the food wasn't so great.

I love crab cakes, too, FF, if there's LOTS of CRAB in them. I like my chicken and dressing to have lots of chicken in it, too. And I want it cooked out fairly dry, more like cornbread, you know? DH, DS, and I love it like that, but most of our family likes it a little softer/soupier. Not really soupy, but mostly just browned on top and very, very moist.
Dmom said perhaps I could make some dressing if I invited dbil to our family dinner. * sigh * Another reason to just "forget" to mention it to him... * sigh * I hate to waste all my time on dressing when ds isn't even here to eat it. But dmom thought it would be fine to invite him -- just said I should mention it to daunt as a courtesy -- which of course I was already planning to do... but not until this weekend... if at all.

Oh -- but speaking of dbil, he called today to talk to dh re: some of dmil's stuff (outdoor stuff -- tractor/etc) and I think they had a very pleasant conversation. But guess what -- he said the tax man called and dmil's last year's taxes are being AUDITED. Good grief. Dbil said this means it will be at least January before we can settle anything. That's fine, I think, b/c ds/ddil are going to be out of town for at least 20 days starting next week and going through the first of the year, so they couldn't be doing anything at that house anyway.

(((Helia))), your schedule just amazed me before you started teaching. Now... * whew * I don't know how you do it. I think a quiet Thanksgiving with just your family would be exactly what the doctor ordered!

Nancy -- crossing my fingers for good neighbors!

Waving to EVERYONE! Y'all stay warm * and safe * in this crazy weather!

[FelineFriend]

DH is watching "Criminal Minds," right now. I can leave that show alone, as it often times disturbs my sleep, with odd dreams. The show after it, "The Stalker," is quite good, doesn't scare me like "CM" does. I don't know why.

An Alaska friend is sending me a hand-made gift. She knits, crochets, etc... I asked her what her kitchen colors are, so I can reciprocate. Luckily, I have her kitchen colors on a 1-Lb. cone of 100% cotton worsted.

Then, I found a good hat pattern, for DGS-5.5 and DGS-3.5, for their 2015 b-days. I'll also be crocheting a nice vest for DGS-turning-2-in January. It's a quick easy to make pattern.

I got my Home Journal added to, wrote tomorrow's PODA (did I say that already?), and used my rescue inhaler again. I'm looking forward to the rain arriving at midnight, to flush this inversion brought in by icy stagnant air, we've had for about a week, perhaps more? We're thankful it won't be freezing in the night, too.

I logged my exercises for the day, checked emails, and am ready to call it a night.

Dee, when you said you were cooking in a crockpot, at first I read it as CRACKPOT! Then I realized it was a MEAL and not a person.

It's hard to believe tomorrow's Thursday already. Where does time go? Have a good night, Everybody! I don't have my Thursday display card up, so don't know if I'll chose the "Thriving Thursday" one OR "Thoughtful Thursday" one. When I do the thrive one, I get a lot done, but when I do the thoughtful one, I try to do for others more. Letters, crochet for others, do something nice for DH or phone somebody, etc...