TOUGH THURSDAY

[DeeClutter]

When the going gets tough, the tough get going. Have no idea why I wrote that, but I do know that the going can get tough this month as we ready for our collective holidays. And I also know we ARE a tough bunch and can accomplish much.

Dh and I are going to meet dbil/dsisil for breakfast shortly. He's then going to bring me back home and go to school to work on the float. Tonight's the parade -oh yeah! DD and dh will both be glad for it to be done -especially since dd wasn't supposed to have to even work on it this year, let alone be in charge again.

DD and I have Trivia tonight -that's always a fun evening. It's held at a sports bar -we usually have a bite to eat and we (our group) only ever has water. Dh and dsonil have their P ublix chicken on Thursday nights, so always a night we don't have to cook. Ended up making chili last night as it was the only thing I could pull together. Didn't have enough tomatoes so added some tomato soup -it was probably the best I've ever made, even if I do say so myself.

Gotta run. BBL

[BookSaver]

Good morning, villagers ~
Thanks for opening the thread, Dee.

For me, this is Reality Check Thursday.
It's time to take a tough, honest look at the calendar to see what you can really accomplish between now and your next deadline, whether that's a holiday party, the end of 2014 -- or yet this week.

Reality Check:
Chrismas Eve might be 20 days away, but our family Christmas party with DMIL will be early on the 14th, only 10 days away.
* Both Saturdays between now and then I am already committed to be out of the house the entire day.
* I have a tax reporting deadline on December 15th of the library group, and haven't even started working on that multi-page form, so it will take up all of tomorrow.
* I have a long meeting at the library tonight and have some prep for that to finish today.
* If I'm going to sew a gift for DMIL, I must block out time to do it early next week.
* If I'm going to mend my winter coat so I don't arrive at the family party looking like a hobo, I must block out time for that next week while the sewing machine will be out.

Reality Check:
If DSis and I are going to order a gift for DMom, we need to make the decision today or tomorrow.

[BookSaver]

One more Reality Check:
I have a Tupperware saltine cracker keeper that smells rancid. We don't eat saltines very often, so they tend to be stored for a long time, and some off-brand saltines went bad in the container. Who even knew that saltines COULD go bad? Obviously whatever kind of shortening they baked in them was not stable, because they were less than 4 months old. I mean, it's not like they were in the container for a decade.

Anyway, in trying to get rid of the odor that has fully permeated the plastic, I have washed the container multiple times. I have tried the usual tips of things to seal in it to absorb the smell: baking soda, coffee grounds, vinegar (one at a time, not mixed together, and washed with soap after each ingredient).

Thinking about what I could try to scrub it with next, I finally realized that I need to face reality: It is not worth any more of my time to try to save this container. Even though it's vintage Tupperware, and when I bought it, it was an expensive item in our budget -- I have spent enough time on it. Right now, we can afford to buy another saltine cracker storage container. The Return On Investment of time spent trying to save the old Tupperware is too low compared to other projects that need my time right now.

The old container will be repurposed as storage in the garage where the smell won't matter. It will keep fire-lighting tinder dry. I've been storing the tinder in the kitchen because the garage gets too damp in our humidity, so this will also solve the problem of reclaiming space in the kitchen from something we won't need until next spring since obviously we don't sit around a fire in the chiminea outside in winter.

Reality Check: As much as I prefer to repair things rather than throw them away, sometimes after making a good faith effort to save an item, the best solution really is to get rid of it and buy a replacement.

[blessedw2]

I REALLY NEEDED THIS MY DEAR D!!!

I love the reality check! d book
D book have fun at breakfast and tonight at the parade.. how fun

[blessedw2]

I don't know if this ever happens to any of you but kitchen cabinets are out of control (all of a sudden- how did that happen)

goal: give the kitchen a good cleaning

My reality check:

-My young cousins come soon... and they are expecting fun and I expect to have a very clean well decorated house.
-I always have my Holiday Shopping done by now and my house decorated.. neither is done.not even close.. my cold took a couple weeks out of me and when dd younger was home I enjoyed and relished the moment.
-my house needs cleaning after all that work -heavy room by room cleaning
-I know when dd younger is back home that we will have major dr appointments downtown

[Emptynester]

I HAVE A NEW DOOR!!!!!

We live in a manufactured home. It is old and the manufacturer also made RVs. So the back door met RV standards - it opened out, was ugly, had bubble glass in a small window and, because it opened out, could not have a screen door. Every time we would bring in groceries, we would have to prop it open with a rock as it opened opposite the porch stairs.

Now we have a beautiful 6 light door that opens in and an old fashioned, hand made screen door so I can have the door in the kitchen open without the dog getting out. They worked all day on it yesterday and will come back to put on the trim today. They also moved the porch light and installed an additional cupboard in my laundry area.

My days have been a round robin of Dr and/or vet appointments, PT for my ankle, church meetings and cooking ahead for the anniversary weekend.

We took Dakota to the vet yesterday and he gave her a shot for the itching. He also took a blood sample to check for thyroid problems. Sweet girl slept all night where before she would be up half the night scratching. The humidity from our two days of rain seems to help, too. So the vet suggested daily showers with no soap to give here relief.

Tummy says it is time for breakfast, so I off to the kitchen. Today I will be assembling the lasagna, I browned all the meat yesterday.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

My reality check is that we don't have a 'Christmas Day' planned. Because ds is working nights and dd and dsil will be out of town, we have been thinking that it would be not on the 25th. But now there's a chance dd will be left behind. So I am hanging loose and will go with the flow. Thankfully, a Christmas Dinner is easy to pull together quickly. That is a good thing about traditions, they are automatic. The only trick will be figuring out when we can all be together (and in ds's case, awake!)

As for Christmas day proper, I can either do something simple here, something more elaborate here and pack up all leftovers to take to the hospital break room, or find other strays that need to be added. Or I can go with a modified Plan A. We've already invited ourselves to CM & CF's place for Christmas so perhaps we'll just bring dd along as well.

I'm up. Feel tired because it was a short night. Sleep quality was good enough.

I've put the LED lights up in the office for now since they seem to be working fine. I suspect a dirty electricity line in the living room (that would explain the touch lamp refusing to turn off on Tuesday, I'd turn it off and a minute later it was back on.) The weird part is the lights were plugged into an UPS which should have cleaned up the electricity. We find that the voltage fluctuates dramatically (from 108 to 125V) which changes the draw appliances require. That's why sometimes the things work just fine, other times they blow the breakers on the power bars (we've put power bars on almost everything since they have breakers so we don't blow as many fuses.)

Every time we start up the printer, that end of the apartment dims and the UPSs (we have 3 in the office) all squeal to indicate a major power surge.)

I noted the balcony door in the dining room was open this morning. I can't recall the last time I opened it but it was just open a crack. Perhaps I failed to close it after shaking out the feather duster on Monday. Ds was cold and commented on the traffic noise on Tuesday night, that would explain why he felt cold. I thought it was just the wind and draft from the windows. I turned the heat on last night in the living room and it quickly became unbearably hot. Which is both a good and bad thing. I turned it off before heading to the airport to get dh. Ds had the heat on in his bedroom and it was also unbearably hot so I shut it off once he was up for the day. My desk (which is next to the radiator) felt awfully warm to the touch and a glass vase on the desk was very warm also. I may have to move the desk if we are going to use the heat in there.

I have no plans for the day aside from dd. I should have swam but didn't feel like moving this morning,

I'll come back when I have something positive to report.

[blessedw2]

yay d mt. on the nice doors and that your sweet dog slept

hi d kathryn sorry you did not sleep well last night. Sending you a nice day!!!

[Nancy]

We have freezing rain here today. It was a freezing drizzle when I went to feed and water the hens today. An advisory is up. Bs was excellent. Yarn meeting here today toddlerN plus gkids after school here as well.

Tough week bc I decided to wait to go shopping and use what I had in the cupboards and freezer. Effective to save money but I did not get donations dropped off yet.

[blessedw2]

so happy about your blood sugars d nancy!!!