MARCH MONDAY

[Twins' Mom]

Back to real life. *sigh*

I'm with Helia. We were up at 5 a.m. this morning to head to the airport, with a flight not leaving until 9:30. Home by 1:30 or so, where I got to hang out with dd for awhile before shooing her off so I could nap.

Wonderful trip - we arrived on Friday afternoon to have a snack and then go to ballpark, but the game had been declared rained out. (Dee, this at was Osceola Co Stadium I think?) Gave us the chance to relax with our friends on Friday night. On Saturday dh and dfriend golfed, while I slept late and "ladies" relaxed. We got a chance to see their "active adult" community and we all napped before going out for dinner at Columbia at Celebration, FL. http://www.columbiarestaurant.com/celebration.asp

Yesterday we went to "see the mouse" and saw the Braves play the Pirates. Couldn't have asked for a better day for baseball and dh had a friend who knew someone in the organization get us tickets (we picked them up at "Players Will Call") and we were two rows behind the Braves dugout. As it turned out, our "other" son, Z was there with his dad - a trip to see spring training games was Z's Hanukkah present (they were seeing games today and tomorrow) so we got to see him and his ddad also. Afterwards we went to Disney downtown with dfriends for dinner and walked around -very, very crowded and busy with spring break. After getting back, dfriends put on a movie "The Attack" which (with subtitles) roused me out of reading for the evening. http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-attack-2013 I'm still thinking through the movie today, very poignant reason why peace is so impossible.

The dh of this couple was the Admin-vp the first two years I was temple prez. I truly adore him now, altho we had our differences at times and he has certainly seen me at my worst. His wife is very sweet, overwhelming talkative at times but good friends. They are about 10 years older than us.

DD had a very rough time dog sitting altho it was probably good for her to see Moses sick. On Sat evening, he threw up all evening and she was panicked. We had added in some prednisone for him beginning on Thurs p.m. and I think it probably made him nauseated. He didn't eat/drink most of Sunday but finally ate something on Sunday evening. He's limping very badly. From dd's description of his illness, we were afraid we were making that final appt today, but he is stable and eating and enjoying the fresh air for now.

Tomorrow Macs has PT and I have a (much needed) body work appt. All the walking on Sunday has taken a toll on my back.

[lucylee]

Cushion covers at Walmart = success! Thanks so much for that tip, Kathryn!

Dmom apparently is satisfied to use the movers... second guy never returned my call -- dh says to call him back tomorrow. I'm sorta of a mind to say well heck, if he doesn't want the business, phooey on him. But what if he is much cheaper than the other? * sigh *
Dmom still thinks it's kinda stupid to pay professionals for this. Dh, ds, ddil all think dmom is just ridiculously cheap and stingy with her money, but I realize that she and ddad came from two families who never paid anyone to do anything like this, they always were able to do it themselves... and of course my cousins DO try to emphasize to her that they are available, "anything you need, just give us a call"... BUT. There are limits (I think) to what you should ask of free family labor. Dbro agrees with me (I talked to him today) -- this is a job that says "Call the Man."
Dmom also says carpet man will take up carpet at her house tomorrow, so that is good news!

I don't really know how much good we will get from the pool table, Harmony, but I am definitely not going to discourage dh's wishes. The garage renovation has been needed since day one, when we first moved in. We just felt we had spent enough and left it with the unfinished walls. It serves its purpose currently, but it gets sooo messy -- spiders, wasps, insects, mice -- anything and everything can get in there as it is now -- you know, gaps around the garage door and too many cracks and crevices. I have wanted it finished for sooo long, especially since ds moved out and we no longer need the actual car space anymore. So if the promise of a pool table is the only way to get dh interested in this project, so be it.
OH -- the building measures probably about 16x20, and the rafters are -- the best I could measure -- 1.5" x 9". (That sounds like an odd measurement, though.) They are approximately 10" apart. The upstairs floor is just the normal subfloor -- presswood (?) type 4x8 boards.
DS is confident his contractor friend can make it sturdy enough, if it needs reinforcement -- provided the pool table man says he can, indeed, get the pool table up there.
* sigh *

Things are getting sooo interesting around here. And likely to get more interesting. Stay tuned.

[Harmony]

Sounds like a nice trip, Twins.

Too bad you don't have air cond. in car any more, Elizabeth. We need a new compressor in ours but have opted not to put the thousands into it. Fortunately, we can recharge it periodically. DH bought a case on e bay and I noticed they're almost gone...and they're hard to get. It's too hard here to go without. I hope ours doesn't catch on fire!

Kathryn, I'm in agreement about the charity. We're not supposed to do charity for the Kudos.
Lucylee, covers on the furniture sound like a better, easier idea. I'll ask DH about your floor. Do the joists run the 16 or the 20 length? You have one support in the middle of the 1st floor?

Dinner / dishes done. I am really sleepy.

[lucylee]

Yes, Harmony, one metal support in the center of the first floor, and the joists (what I called the rafters, right?) run the shorter distance, which I think is approx 16 feet. * DH was totally out of patience and wouldn't help me measure anymore.) OH -- and there is a pair of (maybe) 2x4's running down the center, lengthwise, which that metal support bar is attached to. So I can't tell, but the joists may be cut in 8' lengths.

YES -- the Walmart covers look very nice. They are VERY lightweight, but have ties to attach to the chairs, and they claim to be waterproof, so we shall see. I think we have stormy weather headed this way this weekend. PLUS, they were only $15 and $17 each, so if they last anytime at all, it'll be a pretty good deal.

Kathryn... ugh... your fellow travelers are just... not very nice.

(((Twins' dd))) for dog-sitting worries.

[Harriet]

lucylee is dropping hints.

RunKitty and Molly's Nana, so glad to see you both putting up with us. Um... ... I mean posting with us.

Kathryn, I suppose you got to see more of the full spectrum of donation/giving in this unusual situation. Several happenings were disturbing, yep. Especially that disappointment of finding a group wasn't as desperate as expected, and therefore withholding gifts bought for them. ( ? ) As if it was bad news that they were doing better, and it would have been more rewarding for the giver if only they could have arrived to find the group in greater distress. Did anyone ponder - It actually speaks well of those in charge there that there has been improvement and previous gifts have been wisely used.

We had an overlap of benefits today that I could post in several threads here. Basically, HRH had check up with regular dr (good friend) and his bs is noticeably better, bp excellent. Dr said immediately, "Aha! You've started that walking program I told you to start, haven't you?" And HRH (who still resists dr's walking program idea) said, "actually, I rented a dumpster and cleared out the storage barn". Moral: declutter for better health.

I'm still not over this respiratory thing - well, mini-thing. But I'm fighting. It has been 4 years and 9 months since I have had any cold or virus, if that is what this is. (though it took a long time to recuperate from the respiratory stuff then). Have looked up incubation of viruses and it would have been impossible for me to have gotten something from the boys, there simply wasn't time to be exposed on Saturday morning and get sick by Saturday afternoon. Nobody else is sick, anyway. That points to the meeting I went to on Thursday, which is scary because my dcousin who just had to have heart surgery was there and I certainly don't want to think of the chance she is sick, too. I've taken a Muci nex just to guard against anything getting worse in my chest and will sleep on a wedge. HRH brought me a present of grapefruit.

[lucylee]

Harriet is very perceptive.
-- are you also perceiving a mild sense of panic growing here in Lucyland?

Hope you feel better soon, Harriet!

Good to hear about HRH. Maybe all this moving business will get my cholesterol down, you think?

Loved Harriet's take on the philanthropists in Kathryn's group... Still just shaking my head over all that!