Monday Moving

[Emptynester]

Good Morning!!!!

I, too, have been fighting the blues and donwannas.

I was seeing getting ready for the kids as one BIG thing. Yesterday, I broke it down into tiny steps. I am feeling much better now. We have all the ceiling fans, chandeliers, and windows done.

Pastor's sermon yesterday was "To Choose Joy". Of course, it went with the Joy Advent candle - but I've been thinking about it all night. We can go along with the status quo or we can choose Joy. One of our congregation lost her husband to cancer just months after they finished their dream retirement home. She could have said "poor me" but instead she chose to follow her bumper sticker that reads: I choose Joy, dammit!!!! And she does - she is always smiling and helping others. So I am going to try to follow her example. (just do - there is no try)

See you all later - it is time to bake stollen!!!

[Twins' Mom]

My computer is acting stupid today. Running a malware scan at ds' suggestion. Every time I think I'm going to be able to post the computer stops cold again.

I've played with the settings for my genealogy software - it will generate and host a website. I put it up, privatized it, then took it back down so I'm comfortable with the process. I really want to get my database cleaned up - improve my source citations, delete some collateral people that I've added without really doing any research.

Trying to figure out rest of the day...I can't believe it's already 2 p.m.

-lunch
-start challah in breadmaker
-planning session - organize what must be done today
-answer three emails re Hanukkah at temple
-take out kitchen garbage

[Elizabeth]

Hi everyone! I have stopped banging my head on calculated columns. No, I have not solved the problem. I have decided to cut my losses and do it another way. An EASIER way. This weekend would have been great except for one spectacularly awful event - my brother was rear ended, got out of the car, and had a seizure. We now know the seizure was not related to the accident, but to meds he was taking, but our first thought was head injury. More on this will be put in Joys and Concerns, the situation is not simple.

Today, I need to send some docs to the mortgage company. I have a boatload of errands tonight: return/exchange headset for my cell phone, pet store for meds and general supplies, hardware store for Kilz, gift shopping (3 locals are highest priority, followed by remaining AL cousins), grocery store. As part of the mortgage process, my house needs to be appraised. I want to patch the ceiling and apply the Kilz BEFORE that. The roof leak that caused it has been dealt with, this is just cosmetic. However, it will not look very good to an appraiser.

Other chores tonight: wrap gifts for DD's cousins on the X's side (does he remember the cousins on my side, NOOOOOOOO, but I won't let that stop me from doing the right thing), sweep DD's room where I spilled cereal this morning, change sheets, COOK! I am not sure if I will have time for the latter, but it really does need to be done. Or maybe I can find something at the grocery store that I can eat at work.

Gotta get back to payroll (ah, payroll, what a glorious word, unemployment stunk so bad). See you later.

[helia]

Ooh, MT, I want to go to your house. Stollen. Mmmm..... I bet your home smells great!
Is your computer behaving now, Twins?

Well, apparently another reason I might have been so tired and grumpy this a.m. is that AF was on her way. . .Hadn't considered that.

Done:
- up
- fed cat
- drove dd16 to school (my van will be in the shop today)
- got huge bag of dog food out of the car (got knocked down en route to the car)
- fed ddogs
- fed g. pigs
- dropped off the van with dh's help
- s2s and self-care
- QT
- folded and put away a small load of laundry
- did some prep for mentee meeting
- sent 3 emails: 1 band uniform care letter to parents, 1 to a potential child care worker for the moms group next semester, 1 to church music director letting him know that dd16 will join the church "Christmas orchestra" next week with her oboe.
- lunch
- met with mentee
- picked up dd16 from school
- some emails

Next:
- finalize menu plan and groc. list
- groc. store
- make cookies to take to band concert afterglow? Or dd16 might pick up some.
- finish a.m. routine
- progress on Cmas
- dinner: I think dd16 and I will either have leftover ginger trout, which dh made Thursday, or leftover pulled pork from the freezer.

OK, off to work on the menu plan and groc. list.

[Twins' Mom]

Heaven help me. DD is going to drive me crazy.

I am going to go out to the bank for some cash and to make a deposit.

[DeeClutter]

I broke it down into tiny steps.

Oh, to only REMEMBER to do this with ANY task, MT. I very often do just that in order to get minutes/reports done. But need to do it in things in the house or errands as well. I had broken down getting our cards done into tiny steps. First one was to find address labels (it's hard for me to hold a pen and write for very long. I had set the timer for 1 hour for cards each day -took me an hour to #1 -find the labels and then #2 -search for a book from our church Here that has all the addresses in it. No luck -it's probably up north since I've looked in every available spot. So guess I'll set the timer for another hour and go work on the cards themselves. Guess this will be a very good project to get off my back.

[blessedw2]

emergency surgery for one kitty from eating tinsel
now to work on front room

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Oh, Blessed! I hope the surgery is a complete success!

MT I think I want that bumper sticker (except dh and I share a car and I'm not sure he'd approve!)

I've really done nothing this afternoon. I did get the yet-to-be-used Christmas Cards organized. I have probably 100, not including the 80 religious ones I bought a couple of weeks ago. But the vast majority of those are Happy Holidays or Seasons Greetings. That's OK for some but I can't use them for my church friends or for people who think of me as a preacher. So I have about 22 that say the word Christmas (and about 3 of them would count as religious.) I bought a special one for my new minister. Not sure what I'll send to my minister friend. Oh, and I must find one for my former minister. Geez, I have too many ministers in my life! (I guess that goes with the territory.) I'm quickly becoming close friends with our new minister - he's a lot of fun so he is making my life more interesting these days.

CM and CF are thinking strongly of moving away from here. He's applied for a job in Germany and another in Northern Ontario. Both would be wonderful opportunities, just in vastly different ways. I'm happy for them but figure it might be the end of the church since it is there energy that is driving a lot of what happens at the church (and with dh and I no longer officially involved in things, I'm not sure who will step forward to provide leadership.)

The bridge below us has 5 lanes and the middle lane alternates to accommodate the rush hour flow. The lights indicating the flow of traffic have malfunctioned. Thankfully, they figured this out at 2 and put police cars blocking the lane until they could close it off with construction cones. Unfortunately, not everyone understands what has happened and they aren't avoiding the bridge so the traffic is backed up really badly and there are a lot of horns blaring. It will take some people at least 30 minutes longer to get home. In the meantime, I can consider myself stuck in our neighbourhood because there will be no getting through the traffic to get out and the back entrance will also be blocked by people trying to take an illegal shortcut through the neighbourhood.

I'm defrosting the fish for dinner and so either have to attend to that or reboot my day and go back and make the bed with fresh sheets.

[Nancy]

Good news phones are working again now except the one with a broken box thingie. Toddlern is in a really great mood today. Sun is out today. Counters are looking great here in the kitchen. I baked up the rest of the cookie dough for h's lunches this week.

[blessedw2]

thank you. she had it in her stomach and intestines - it was from last years ornaments
we pick her up at 5 central time

I am still in the process of decorating the frontroom tree, dd older is cleaning the kitchen, dd younger is studying for finals