Sunday Saying Goodbye to November

[Twins' Mom]

Dh and I got home from movie and he started in mowing the yard while I did the pooper scooping. He is finishing up with some blowing. I have 7k steps for the day and need to walk dogs again soon.

[Harmony]

Thank you RRose. It's a blessing to me when somebody agrees/understands some of this.

I got up on ladder and took ceiling fixture globe off to replace bulb. We don't have the right type, so I'll have to get one. DH tried and couldn't do it.

He tried to cook something and dropped 2 eggs on the floor. More frustration. He needs to have some work done on his hands. What else can go wrong?

I paid a few bills. I typed a proposal. I went through the trade magazines and then put them in recycle bin. I gathered garbage and got that out.

Did I tell you my DGS is working on a website for us? I just have to get him some pictures next. He is 13. I should be embarrassed I couldn't figure out how to do it. I don't care if it's fancy or ultra professional. Neat, with information, and a way to contact us is all we need. He said they made little free ones in school. I told him he could be our IT person!

Guess it's dinner time.

[lucylee]

(((Harmony))) I can totally relate to your situation of forgetting his own items and then blaming you. Again -- not my personal experience, but absolutely my dmom's. Ddad most likely would not have carried a toothbrush to Houston with him if dmom had not packed it. (He did forget his mouthguard -- he wore one b/c he used to grind his teeth in his sleep -- and I had to mail that to him.)
Nah... Mr. OCD/my dh always has everything he needs ready to pack at least 24 hours in advance. He might forget something every once in a while, but he doesn't blame me, b/c he would NEVER trust me to remember stuff for him, LOL!

I also understand what you're saying about the difficulty he faces adjusting to different physical situations, b/c when ddad started feeling bad from the chemo -- just tiring more easily, etc -- it was very depressing for him. I don't know if he could have ever been happily "retired." He was such a workaholic... and it drove my dmom CRAZY, too.
(((BIG HUGS)))

I think that is wonderful that your dgs is doing a website for you, though! He'll love working on it, and you'll have your person IT person there! Great!

I have just piddled around today. Did not make one extra move towards decorating. I plan to do that tomorrow, before/after Wmart. We were up late late late... after dh and ds came in, ds stayed around for a little while, watching some of the football review shows, and dh was just kinda keyed-up after the game, so it took us a while to settle down. DH was disappointed, but also, like me, so glad we played we a good game. The last time we played in that stadium, 2 years ago, we got beat 49-0... so losing 55-44 wasn't quite the heartbreaker we could have experienced, you know? I am hearing that our defensive coordinator was just fired this morning. Sounds like The Other team doesn't have much defense, either, does it? This was the highest scoring game in the 102 year history of this rivalry.
I have managed to do my * extremely short * morning exercise routine and s/s both toilets.
Also s/s kitchen, watered plants, paid the newspaper man, laid out vitamins/etc for next week, and printed my checklists for the next 4 weeks.
And of course, read the paper and napped.
Need to s2s. DS is going to go out and eat with us tonight. He's home alone until Wed., when he will return to his inlaws' home, and then he and ddil/dgs will all come back home next weekend.

I am also impressed at your weight control on the crusie, Dee! WTG!!!

Also sooo, sooo glad to hear such good reports from the visit w/dgd and dd, LadyM!!! Baby steps... but they ARE in the right direction... such a wonderful way to start the Christmas season.

And glad to hear RR & ds & gf had such a good time, too. I know it has to be sooo hard to say good-bye when it's time for him to leave.

I think I would like to see that movie, Twins, but dh doesn't want to see it. He says he has seen enough of hospitals and sickness, and watching Hawkings' decline would just not be a good form of entertainment for him. I think it is very inspiring, to see how he overcame his disabilities to accomplish so much, and I'm inspired by his fiance'/wife having the strength to stay with him for so long -- I believe I read that they are divorced now, but still, I think she must have been a very strong person for a very long time.

[Harriet]

Hmmm... ... I remember a family friend listening to a lady who was worried, because her husband didn't eat very much of meals she prepared. He told her, "Everyone is responsible for their own stomachs." I thought that was very bright. So, Harmony, everyone is responsible for their own suitcase spills and forgotten toiletries. It says nothing about either in the marriage vows. Wait, let me be sure... ... it goes, To love, honor and remember the toothpaste... ...no, really, that's not in there.

Oh, an egg falling to the floor. Is there anything more frustrating? Time for the spouse to quietly head for the other side of the house until calm prevails. Later, say, "oh, an egg fell? You must have been so frustrated, dear."

Lady M, what happy thoughts for so many in your family.

And Ramblin', you have had such a meaningful Thanksgiving visit.

Dee, how did you DO that? You were supposed to have weight to lose! You're not doing this right.

Rehearsal this a.m. was tense. We (and others) were wrong about the minister's email. He titled one attachment with the familiar hymn title and then "in the key of G", which I assumed meant very little to singers, who would follow the musicians anyway. Nope. He expected us to download and see it was a different tune/arrangement we've never heard before and needed to learn. This caused trouble. None of our 3 song leaders knew it at all (neither did I as a substitute), and the pianist herself had not practiced enough and kept making mistakes. Unfortunately this all caused some tension.

DD16 had worn flip-flop style sandals to rehearsal. (What can I say... ... she's a teenager.) So we left for a change of shoes at home after rehearsal and didn't stay for SS. Several asked about this and both dd and I felt uncomfortable about it, in that we never promised to be present for SS just because others saw us at a rehearsal, which is a different event. We were feeling some "shoulds" and "oughts" were being thrown at us unnecessarily. I think a lot of folks were out of sorts today for some reason.

It is so hard for me to grasp that we are at the cusp of December, 2014. That is profound!

[Nancy]

Sun. Buffet was a hit we visited and dud not hurry every one talked about how they spent turkey Thurs, h. Was delighted my bday gift card covered our meal, dd & dil were glad to have this option. I am happy it went so well.

We brought up my other loom stand in wheels I have one phase done on it threadding the heddles, now I need to correct mistakes on it.

I did not find what I wanted at the fabric store sigh oh well I will be trying a diff one not a chain store.

Git mayo for turkey sans. And deviled eggs. H is napping so I can do what I want.

I but up one decoration the rest gkids can help me with when they are here.

[Lynlee]

I am so pleased for LM and successful visit from DD and DGD3. May blessings continue in these relationships, and in DD's future life may there be stability.

My dd1's house had windows smashed in a hail storm. and an injury to her foot when she moved the car that was being pelted even under the car port. 45% hail the size of tennis balls, not friendly. Lots of damage in their city, but at least their house is still habitable, when many aren't.

Friend who helped me after I broke my shoulder, "S" has gone into a palliative care unit at a hospital after holidaying with her family and special friend - she needed to return early. Praying they have some good memories from the time together, and that her DS does not go off the rails again.

I've gotten greater stability in my life now I've put in place boundaries with a certain someone. Sometimes I could cope, but not others. Continually needing to reinvent the wheel of everyday routines was not helpful, and I am starting to make an effort at home.

Mowing has happened today. Neighbour's dd and her mother did it. DD gets the money, but her mother counts it as money she doesn't need to give her.
First day of summer here today. Blue sky. Some cumulus clouds about.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Home after 11.5 hours. Exhausted.

We had a full house for the concert. The sanctuary holds 150 but just 120 in the pews in winter with coats and the choir loft couldn't be used for seating and some seats were blocked by the keyboard so I guess 120. The carol singing with that many voices sounded divine.

I have a hoarse voice now. There's no sound system and normally that isn't an issue but all the bodies absorbed the sound plus the children were restless so I had a hard time being heard.

Off to bed now. See you in the morning.

[FelineFriend]

Thanks for the explanation about "who" Stretch Armstrong was, LucyLee ! I'm still not familiar with him/it though. I don't know why. I don't know if I've never seen one, how DS never had one, if I'm too old or too young, or it they're even out here in the West.

I got up at 3:20 a.m.! I had a very, very comical dream, which woke me up, along with GERD. I got a 2.5 hour nap in, in the morning, with DH beside me. I'm not as tired now, which is nice.

I wrote out 2 Christmas cards/letters, to pen pals. 1 gal's an old pen pal, I'm trying to see if she wants to be pen pals again, because I stopped writing her, when I was getting into writing work more, it was overwhelming to do both pen palling AND stories. But now, I've got a "system" so everything goes a lot quicker, and I find I can do both now.

It's frigid here, it's in the mid-20's at night and lower 30's in the daytime for a high. My hands really eat up the hand lotion on my dry skin, too!

Have a great evening, Everybody and Happy December Monday tomorrow, too! We're mailing out our cards and 4 gift mailers tomorrow.

[lucylee]

FelineFriend -- for more info on Mr. Stretch and his friends, you could check out these links. The second one should show you a picture of him/or his friend being stretched.
Apparently the first came out in the mid 70s, and I have now learned that we do not have Stretch Monster but his older friend/enemy? -- Stretch X-Ray. He apparently came out in 1977, when my dbro would have been 6 years old. I've had a great time with this -- wrote up a little "crime report/obituary" and sent it to dbro on FB.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stretch_Armstrong
and
http://search.aol.com/aol/imageDetails?s_it=imageDetails&q=stretch+armstrong+toy&v_t=client97_searchbox-ac&b=image%3Fquery%3Dstretch%2Barmstrong%2Btoy%26s_it%3Dclient97_searchbox-ac%26oreq%3Dec46daea17684dc79df47014aab3bd3a&img=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.beyondhollywood.com%2Fuploads%2F2012%2F04%2FStretch-Armstrong-Toy.jpg&host=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.beyondhollywood.com%2Fstretch-armstrong-movie-hires-new-screenwriter%2Fstretch-armstrong-toy%2F&width=85&height=85&thumbUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fencrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com%2Fimages%3Fq%3Dtbn%3AANd9GcR9Z24Ml0vAhAsAZu3TXgwt6mS8Nk7Xanl_au5QmWqovr6i1C62Oxs5Vww&imgWidth=260&imgHeight=260&imgSize=19245&imgTitle=stretch+armstrong+toy

We just went to eat at Five Guys and then went to Wmart with ds. All the groceries are put away now; glad that's done. Now tomorrow is fairly free, except for completing the Christmas decorations.

[Elizabeth]

Hi everyone! I am up way later than I want to be. I am doing a backup of my computer and it's taking FOREVER!!! DD12 and I made church and the potluck today, where I found out a friend is in the hospital with a knee injury. I was hoping to visit her this afternoon while DD was at the movie with the youth group. However, they needed me to drive, so I went to the movie and had dinner at Dions with the youth. I kept hearing how they liked the dinner I made for them last week. I think most people serve them things like pizza, spaghetti, and sandwiches, so to get something that actually looked like someone made an effort was appreciated. (While there was some effort involved, it was not an unreasonable amount).

After dropping off DD at the X's, I have started the backup, checked and responded to emails, and done much web work for church. There is still some web work to go, but I am going to have to wait until I am more awake. I also paid some bills. My goodness, it is nice to be able to pay them without raiding my savings!!!

The bare minimum of stuff I need to do: cat care, pack lunch for work, lay out clothes for tomorrow. There are many other things I can get done while waiting for this interminable backup to complete. I will get started RIGHT NOW!

ETA: @#$%!!! $%^&*!!! ()!@#$#!!! Looks like my backup failed with only one more disk to go. Out of seven. I could have gone to bed!!!