TAKE CARE OF THE NEXT RIGHT THING WEDNESDAY

[Lady Maverick]

LucyLee - I'm so pleased your DH and DBIL were able to settle estate doings without a big battle that many families have to go through. Wondering if you shared the estate information with DBIL would save him (or an assistant) time? Maybe reducing the legal fee a little......

We have renamed fish sticks to Wish Sticks......We wished they tasted better.

Made EASY low carb Honey Mustard dip to cover the taste of the baked wish sticks.
1/4 cup mayo.
1/4 cup yellow mustard
2 doonks of Stevia
Guys are happy.

Still 70 files in the queue.

I have 15 minutes to get LO into his karate uniform and out the door. *POOF*

[DeeClutter]

I made soup last night, Twins. Also not on the 'low sodium' side. Made one that was posted on FB for 'That's Amore' soup by Paula Deen. It was very tasty but definitely knew it had too much sodium for our healthy diet. Will try again in a few weeks with lower sodium choices -like the chicken broth, garlic powder instead of garlic salt, lower sodium tomatoes???? All of which will probably deflate the taste & I'll end up salting it. But with dh's issues already with fluid retention I do need to be careful.

We're heading for Sarasota tomorrow (rain is in the forecast and I HATE I-75 in the GOOD weather!). Our group who winter in FL from our campground have a gathering at an Amish/Mennoite buffet restaurant. Always good and we're usually there about 2 hours. Then back here. Going to have dh drop me at dd's school. She has an after school activity at 6 and then we're going to Trivia a little after 7. I predict I'll be tired tomorrow night. The only trouble for this retiree about Thursday nights is that I have to get up and go to work on Friday mornings.

I hope I ordered the right mop, RR. At any rate it's done. Then I went online and ordered 2 pairs of sneakers (tried to get 3 but it wouldn't let me.) It was free shipping over a certain amount. So I had it sent to the local store -free, but then they added sales tax. But that was still less than the shipping and we're right next door at W mart at least once a week.

Going to take my meds and see about getting ready for dinner.

[helia]

Hello all! As you may have noticed, I'm getting here less lately. With work, I just don't have time. Work takes more of my time than I think it will.

It is about 6:15 here, and dinner has been in the oven for a while. I'm roasting a turkey breast (w/ some spices rubbed on it) and some potatoes. I need to get the brussel sprouts in to roast next.

This morning, Dh and I went to the gym, and I did the elliptical for a good 45 minutes on a level that was high enough that I actually broke a sweat after about 20 minutes. That felt good. I did the regular morning stuff at home and also took care of a moms group crisis: no one signed up to help in child care or to bring snacks tomorrow. So, I sent out an email, and some lovely ladies on the leadership team stepped up to help out. I put myself down as 1st call to be in the nursery if needed.

Tonight after dinner is eaten and cleaned up, I need to bake muffins for moms group tomorrow and make up my first quiz for my class for tomorrow - I know what the questions and reading will be; I just need to put them all together. I should also work on mailing out my new year's greeting cards, though they have 2 errors in them, which I missed when I sent them off to be printed. Maybe finding them can be entertainment for those who like that sort of thing! LOL! I should also have plans for my class tomorrow made b/c I won't have time tomorrow to work on them. I will get home from moms group around 12:15/12:30. I'll need to eat lunch and leave again around 12:45 to go to work. The only reason I go home between moms group and payroll is to let the dogs out for a while. Otherwise, they'd be in their crates for about 6.5 - 7 hours.

OK, off to prep the brussel sprouts and get the kitchen cleaned up.

[lucylee]

LadyM -- dbil has the same info, of course -- in fact, on his notes, he had himself further ahead money-wise than I did! All I did was put it in a neater, Excel file, just for my own satisfaction. There is something dbil mentioned -- on his side of the tally -- that makes up the difference, but dh and I can't remember what it is! I'll just show dbil the list when we sign deeds, I guess. Sigh. Even if dbil's fee eats up all the cash available, dh still has almost exactly what he hoped for, and as he said last night to ds, "If he can live with it, I can live without it."

How much DO lawyers usually charge for handling estate settlements? Do any of you have any experience with this? I know it varies in different areas, but I have no idea what dbil charges -- by the hour or otherwise. What are lawyer rates where y'all live?

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

I'm in a mood. Should go to bed.

I just had to fill in a very long and stupid survey for our car experience based on our latest service - an oil change. The questions were stupid given it was an oil change ("rate your experience with the representative fully explaining the work to be done") No chance to click not applicable. Then at the end it asked if our name and address was correct. It isn't because we've moved. So I click no. It says Thank You! and that the end of the survey. No chance to input the correct address. I've sent a scathing email back to the survey company.

I'm still dealing with the cruise line but I think we've finally solved the meal situation. At least I hope we have. Now I know why my reservations disappeared so that's a good thing. And, I have an email saying we have a 6:15 seating every night at a table for 8.

I've emailed our travel agent to let her know she has the policy wrong. But that I've corrected the problem.

Dh and I went to the bank to wire money to the guide in Africa but he didn't send the address of his bank and our bank requires that. So that errand didn't get done. We had dinner at the mall food court, I bought some stuff from the dollar store and then a pair of mitts from a vendor at a booth in the mall. They feel like they'll be extra warm and were made in Canada so I couldn't resist.

Dh is at choir and I'm grumpy and moody so it is time for me to go to bed. I have an early start in the morning.

[Harmony]

I sure wish I could get better. I slept half the afternoon, with phones in my lap in case DH called about the equipment. He managed without me, somehow.

Our tenant is coming tomorrow to get caught up with rent & water. I had to look at my files and figure out his bill. He always gets behind, then he gets caught up, then he pays a little ahead, then he gets behind again...and you'd think that wouldn't be hard to keep track of, but we give him a little break when he pays ahead, but not when he's late...and I don't deposit it all at the same time because then it gets into the wrong year and looks like we are making bunches of money... so I guess I got it all figured out. I hate renting that house. Real Estate around here has not come up very much. We're still stuck with this house.

Still waiting for DH to come home. He went straight to youth group from work, and I know he worked very hard today. I wish he didn't have to work this hard.

Had dinner, did all the dishes. Sorted mail. Just barely keeping my head above water around here.

Lucylee, I think giving dbil the file is a good thing. It's good to document everything, because if you're like me, down the road you won't remember how it all went. I have no idea how much lawyers charge, but I don't think it's cheap. You don't think he'll do it pro-bono?

Kathryn, I think most surveys are dumb. We get phone surveys all the time, especially since we're listed as a business here. Last week I answered one that was so complicated I just couldn't keep track of all the rating categories. Yesterday I did one about commercial vehicle insurance and that gal is supposed to be sending me a $15 check for doing it!

[Lady Maverick]

Back from taking LO to Karate lessons. There are still 59 files in the ftp queue. This is taking much longer than I expected.

DH rode to church with DFriends so I could have the pickup to take LO to his lessons. We have driven about 40 extra miles today due to sharing a vehicle. DH checked on how my vehicle repairs are going. The repairs are being done but once they got it broke apart they discovered it is more extensive than we had hoped. Looks like the repairs are going to end up costing about 4x what we were hoping for. Both air bag systems are going to have to be replaced. >>>.groan<<<< And it might not be the worst. As soon as they finish my vehicle repairs they will start on our pickup repairs. They have to drop the transmission in it. Really???? I am finding this kinda humorous in a sad way......kinda unbelievable how many things have broke this past month. Why does everything want to break right NOW?! Hopefully tomorrow the temps will get above freezing so the BH heater repairs can be finished. They need to confirm the heater drain issue isn't coming from a frozen pipe. I hope that doesn't mean we will have to replace that plumbing under the house.......

I have no clue what lawyer hourly fees are to settle estate. Attorney fees for divorces (with children involved) are around $2k. Adoptions are typically $5k - $25K.

[lucylee]

Oh no. Dbil is DEFINITELY not doing this for free. He has stated more than once that will he will show us an itemized statement of his time/expenses -- to show how and why he has charged the estate whatever he does. But that's sad bc it comes out of OUR part, you know, cause he gets his back. Sheesh. We avoided a big battle mainly bc dh is the kind of person he is -- which is waaay too easy-going, I'm sure many people would say. I can just imagine what my ddad would have to say about how this all has turned out.
But -- it is what it is, and a lot of people have a higher opinion of dh than dbil, so that's something money can't buy, you know.

[Harriet]

Elizabeth, we could read the tags on them, or salespeople would tell us. They were all too small, the tiniest sizes (XS Juniors we usually found, which is the size that will fit their mannequins, I suppose) and we would ask the salespeople, only to find they were the only ones left. One salesperson in Forever 21 admitted to us that their mannequin outfits displayed throughout the store hadn't been changed since the mid-November preparation for Black Friday. (when I worked retail, that would have made my supervisor faint)

LadyM, I was glad to read you have gone to the cardfile for a while, during these first months of acquainting yourself with a new home and getting over a move. I think that's wise and will help you feel settled.

BookSaver, I am also saying "thanks to my new forms" a lot.

blessed, I understand the projects-vs-time conversations folks have with themselves. I am recently asking myself, "if not now, when?" and am still coming to grips with this.

Elizabeth, is there something preventative/proactive you could take such as airborne, zicam type products or just getting in the vitamins, especially D?

Today I have had some disappointment on the productivity front. HRH was underfoot early because of his final dentist appt for that one tooth had to be 10:00 am and disrupted his morning. It went so quickly that he ended up bringing take-out home, which I didn't expect. Then I was aware of dd needing to be picked up early after final so I felt I had "no time". Then when we arrived home the oriental take-out had done its number on me and I was nearly falling asleep. What causes that? So I napped, which was a bad decision. Visitor arrived and stayed late, watching shoot-em-up movie with HRH.

A few things I can at least say are TaDas:
Dailies done, out to folding towels and put-away
fielded business call for HRH while he was out
ordered the Bible study books for others in group
ordered greeting cards for upcoming bdays
fielded call from relatives about break-in - all okay
Got dd to her youth group Bible study and back

[FelineFriend]

Been on the go-go-go today! Went to DMV to renew my driver's license, then to Walmart to redeem a $25 gift card, from a dear friend, and spent $50 on top of it, with b-day $$ from DH, and he threw in the rest. I got a flat cotton-blend sheet, in teal, for the backing of my comforter I'll sew myself soon, and it matches the top fabric perfectly! I never even took a sample with me, to match it, but it matches like I DID! I got "Signature" Levis, size 18-Regular, with fancy back pocket stitching, and realized, when I got home, even as a teenager, young mother or ANY AGE, I've NEVER had fancy stitched back pockets on my jeans! It's nice! I'm so glad they fit comfy, too. I also got a lovely long-sleeved cotton knit cream nightgown with lavender, lilac, and burgundy leaves on black fines AND I found a fuzzy, fluffy, soft, cozy, front-zip bathrobe, to match, which is 100% polyester, in a fleece-like fabric with diamond patterns to it. So pretty! I'm a "winter", for coloring, too, so it's very pretty on me. I got Peaches 'n' Cream for kitchen mats and CD coasters. I got Bernat baby yarns, for DGD-2's dresses, plus 3 pkgs. of buttons, all bright, pretty, and cute, for her dresses, vests, too. I got 1 pkg. of Fruit of the Loom (the best brand EVER!), too. I picked up a "Real Simple" Magazine, while I was there, and a black leather belt with a brass buckle and a brass cross next to the buckle. So unusual in a belt, I thought. DH saw it, before I did, so he pointed it out to me. Of course I wanted it, because of the cross. I picked up 2 pkgs. of thank you cards. Got home, washed everything, except no time for the sheet tonight. I've been writing thank you cards/w/letters this evening.

BFF and her DH are coming over tomorrow with a b-day gift/card, so been cleaning, to get ready. Been changing decorations a bit more, too, so more red and pink are out, for Valentine's Day. ♥ ♥ I wanted to clean house up real good tonight anyway, so I'm not working on my b-day tomorrow. I want to enjoy the day, crochet, read on my novel some more, my magazine, and in the evening, I'll work on my story again. We'll eat filet mignon steaks, from Omaha Meats, via our Dson/Ddil, for Christmas, which arrived on 1-6-15.

Anyway, since I've not been on-line much, during my (so far!) 10-day (NOW!) virus, it hurts to sit in the office chair, even with a lumbar office chair pillow. I've been doing back stretches, got some Blue-Emu Cream, which is for sore muscles or arthritis, and it's ODOR-FREE! Saw an old, old retired Nascar racer on CMT one day, during a movie, talk about it being at Walmart. It's GREAT to put something on that's NOT stinky!

DH's cousin, emailed she's sent me something in a b-day card envelope and to keep an eye out for it, in the next few days. I can't figure out "what" it could be. Dson/Ddil gave me pretty yarn, for my b-day, at Christmas, and DD gave me 2 journals; 1 is my new writer's journal, because it has typewriters, pens, and eyeglasses on the covers. I ♥ LOVE ♥ it!

I need to run and get a few more things done prior to bedtime. I slept so wonderfully last night and slept in until 9 a.m. and have been so busy today. It's been fun though. We've had a wonderful day together. My cough is still here, but I'm feeling more energetic, not in need of napping daily, so I'm very, very happy about that, too.

Have a wonderful Hump Night, Everybody! I wasn't on-line until after dinnertime, so haven't visited here to post. I wanted to "pop in" to say hello tonight. I don't know when I'll be on-line tomorrow either, but I'll surely be, especially after BFF and her DH leave. It's going to be a fun day. You're only 63 once in your life, so you might as well enjoy it, right? Goodnight! TC!