Go! Monday PWYC

[Twins' Mom]

“April prepares her green traffic light and the world thinks, “Go!” – Christopher Morley

Let's go!

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Twins: thanks for opening us this morning and thanks for that fabulous quote.

It will be a busy week for most of us, even if there are no religious celebrations, at least here in Canada we have to rework our schedules to take into account things that are closed.

In Ontario Good Friday is completely shuttered. Easter Sunday most things are closed. And Easter Monday will be just government and schools shut. So we are 'short' two shopping days this week and medical falls under 'government' here so no hospital labs on Friday or Monday.

Dh will do a blood draw today and if the INR falls into safe range, he'll skip Thursday (because there's no-one to analyse it on Friday) and go the following Tuesday. We are hoping for the best so haven't figured out what to do if it isn't safe. In the meantime, he's scrambling to get more Warfarin because they've upped his dose so much he's run out of pills before he can get his next renewal.

I'm going to have him call the nurse coordinator today to see if he can be seen Tuesday or Wednesday about the fluid on the lung. He's doing much better as far as shortness of breath goes, and most of his problems now could be blamed on the dehydration they've forced him to live in. If that goes away, then he'll be able to eat better and maybe the insanely high heart rate times will go away. Finally, with the extremely low blood pressure and, when it isn't racing, heart rate, it would be nice to lower the beta blocker to see if he still needs that as well.

The racing heart and lack of decent nutrition is messing with his movement and he's still missing one of his 2 walks several times a week. He's also not sleeping well.

He tried the waterbed last night and was awake for 90 minutes. I left at 2 because I had gone to bed at 10:45, was up at 12, 1 and 2 because of his movements waking me up. I still had a rough time until about 4 but struggled to wake to the alarm at 7 so got 3 hours of uninterrupted sleep.

The hospital bed and the spare bed are stripped and laundry started. I've lost track of the waterbed's status. I know I slept in it 2 nights out of the past 13. What I can't remember is if I changed the bottom sheet when I changed the duvets 2 weeks ago. The following night I moved to the spare bed so the waterbed's status is unclear in my head.

Dh will call for the hospital bed to be picked up asap. As it is, we have to move it out of the way so I can get into my closet, and then back so dh can get in the waterbed. Thankfully the castors are amazing and it glides around easily. There's no other place to put it, so hopefully they can come today (pickup is scheduled for next Tuesday cuz they are closed on Monday.)

We had a surprise snowstorm at 6 a.m. that dh said it was forecast. I pulled up the forecast from 11 a.m. yesterday which called for a 30% chance of flurries overnight. We got at least 1.5" of snow and since it wasn't officially forecast, there was no salting or sanding done. No point in plowing, the snow has stopped now and the roads are already clear. But the number of accidents is incredible because people took their snow tires off too early plus today is the first day of the week that the federal government is requiring staff back at the office 3 days per week. So everyone is in a bad mood and we are delaying our trip to the blood draw by an hour to let things clear up.

I have a church meeting this afternoon that was deliberately set so that I would have an 'outing' as well as meeting. The chair used to be a caregiver for her husband and knows how important it is for me to get time away from home and thinking about something other than dh's recovery.

She is an example of why you don't judge people by first (or second) impressions. She is incredibly brusque, the last person you'd think of being caring or empathetic. She stopped being a staff rep on the committee because she couldn't find a staff member who wanted her to represent them. On the other hand, she's very efficient so now chairs the committee and lets the more empathetic people do the rep work. Then, out of the blue, she comes up with the idea of making sure I get a real break when I attend this meeting. It is so important to not give up on people even if you don't 'click' with them at first, people are multi-faceted.

In a way she reminds me of one of my day care family's parent. She was overwhelmed when she ended up with 2 kids just over a year apart in age plus a 4 year old. So I cared for the babies (starting when the youngest was 6 weeks old) several times a week to give her a break from them and so she could do fun things with the 4 year old after school. Then, one day she asked me if the baby had fallen and I couldn't recall a fall. She said her head looked different. She was a really pushy lady and she had the kid into the doctor and then pushed for more tests even though it was Christmas time. She was like a dog with a bone. She got the tests, the baby had a brain tumour, and a more laid back wait-and-see mother might have waited 3 weeks until after Christmas to deal with the medical system but this baby had exactly the bitchy parent she needed. The surgery happened just before her first birthday and then I got a call to babysit the babies again one day because the four year old has pointed out it was the baby's birthday and why wasn't there a party? The two of them were heading out to buy stuff for a party and I babysat for her.

You never know what people are really like, so I try really hard to let them reveal their full selves.

[Lady Maverick]

Good morning!

Twins - thanks for the start today.

Our household is operating smoothly this morning. DD11 had another successful day of waking herself. I just got back from dropping her off at school. DS14 is suspiciously quiet. I suspect he went back to sleep. DH is getting ready to take his DSis to her 6th chemo appt. He will have a long day in the city while waiting to bring her back home.

I am looking forward to a day at home. I have things I want to accomplish.
** I want to climb back into my hourly groove. I have a room assigned to each hour and I enjoy spending a couple minutes in each of the rooms to get them into maintenance mode. It is a slow process to get a room decluttered, organized, and deep cleaned but then it just needs a daily consistently hands-on monitoring to stay that way.
** I have several tomato & pepper plants that I need to get transplanted into raised beds. I have 6 of the 11 beds completely planted so I am a little over halfway done with spring planting. I am also in the process of building the last raised bed by adding a block or two a day. I am about 3/4 done with it so I am hopeful to finish it this week.
** I want to cook some cabbage & sausage today. And maybe a pot of black-eyed peas.

But my first priority is homeschooling DS14 so I need to get him moving along with his assignments.

[Twins' Mom]

Ugh. I accidently closed the browser and lost my post. I'm still feeling overwhelmed between what I must do and what I'd like to do.
Must do for the week:
-Passover prep
-Shabbat dinner
-DD visit -get bedroom ready
-watch webinars that expire
-sweep garage (we're tracking in stuff)
-service call for washer
-CPAP mask - must exchange
-temple cemetery, pay bill and request transfer
-and the usual stuff

Would like to do:
-genealogy work
-Yard: ferns, tomato plants, herbs, etc.
-get rest of house back together (laundry room and primary bedroom)

Needed but not urgent:
-goodwill
-shred to UPS store
-recycle glass
-clean up garage in general

Focused five:
-finish coffee spill clean up and start load of laundry (necessitated by coffee spill)
-call re: washer repair
-call re: CPAP mask
-clear kitchen counters
-empty dishwasher

Looks like we may have rain most the day, so it's not a day to go to garden center. I need to finish a.m. routine and then assess the rest of the week. I think I can get groceries tomorrow because I need to make charoset and boil eggs for Passover on Wednesday a.m. All I have on Wed. is Passover prep and picking up dd and the seder at six.

[Ramblinrose]

Morning…

Twins … I’ve been following a gal on FB who is an Orthodox Jew. She uses the platform to educate the public about her daily life and answers questions the readers post to her about her Jewish traditions. I really enjoy reading her posts because I once had a Christian best friend..I went to school with her and she was in my wedding…who married a fellow friend who was Jewish. After she married him, she converted and became Jewish.

We have a very large Hasidic Jewish community near where I lived and whenever I would walk the boardwalks the women would be out there in large groups. I’ve always been curious about them … I knew why the women covered their hair and so on, but didn’t know much else. When my son was running his snacking nut company, he would have a rabbi come and bless his machines and produce so his label could print the Kosher sign on it.

Finished my class, have my routines done and am about to do a swish, swish shower as I have a luncheon to get ready for. Yesterday my sons family came over and we had a grand time.

Saturday the carpet pad came and Sweetie and I spent time trying to get my area rug to fit with it. Got frustrating cause it wouldn’t fit right. Then I got the bright idea to measure both the carpet and the pad and figured out the problem. The carpet measured 9’11 and the pad measured 10’2”. So I ended cutting the pad to make it fit.

Need to jump in the shower …waving good morning to y’all.

[Nancy]

Ramblin that was a great fix!

I was up early 4:45 ish...bs is up slightly.
Morning stuff mostly done.
Changing up my journaling this mo. to add more art & less wordy is making it more fun.
My bs was a roller coaster yesterday and hormonal fluxes chills and hot blasts I went to be early and did not watch a show I waited all week
for and did not seem that interested in when it came on. One before it on creative stuff was good.
Had bfast & Rx
Showered before bed.
bed is made
dishes are done now.
Dumped old food & the trash.
Called on meds. to get them going.
Got dressed & got onions transplanted into planters.

I took out a board I painted on after getting the vid. for it and put it back out front where it goes.

I am looking forward to some garden time I have some terracotta pots to transplant onions into they will make the plant cage [pretend greenhouse] look more productive and free up space in front where they were for some herbs I want to get this spring.

I will sand a bit on the new to me drop leaf table and then paint on it some of the first coat when I figure out where that should happen.
So glad I got the furniture dollies they come in so useful for this stuff!

I guess I can only think about today! LOL! No clue for the week yet. LOL!

[Twins' Mom]

I can't even focus on just five things, but OTOH things are getting done. Appliance appt will be Wed. a.m. while I'm prepping for Passover.

I need breakfast/brunch next.

[Dove]

Good morning to Twins, Kathryn, Lady M, Rose, Nancy & all who stop by later.

Was looking forward to starting the first Monday of a new month getting lots done after doing some planning this weekend. I'm a little sick, though, which is affecting my energy level, & dh is very sick with lots of symptoms. I asked him to take a covid test since he will be around friends tomorrow if he feels better, & we will both be around others on Wed. Glad he tested negative. I got the laundry sorted & started, cleaned up some things sitting out in the laundry room, & brought up some eggs to hardboil later when I make more macaroni salad for dh. He loves a scoop of it at lunchtime so I make it often. Other plans for today are to fold & put away at least two loads of laundry, & switch out some fall decor in my kitchen (canisters, a few knick knacks) for spring ones. Dinner will most probably be soup & crackers. Chicken noodle for dh, chicken & stars (a childhood favorite ) for me.

Harriet, you had asked me a tea question. My favorite is decaf black Lipton tea. I've tried green & flavored teas over the years & will occasionally have peppermint tea but the Lipton tastes best to me.

Cathy, to add to your dishes discussion, I always rinse &/or soak anything that doesn't go straight into the dishwasher. I clean up lunch dishes (& occasionally some leftover breakfast dishes) after lunch so that I have an empty sink before dinner prep begins. Dishwasher only runs about twice a week here. After dinner all dishes are rinsed & put in dishwasher; any casserole type dishes that need to soak are filled with hot, soapy water & I try to remember to wash them before water gets cold. I air dry anything hand washed overnight on a dish towel & put them away first thing in the AM.

Off to switch laundry & then come back her to cuop from yesterday. Poof!

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Nice to see you here, Dove!

I'm back from the blood draw and taking a few moments at the computer while eating my breakfast.

The third load of laundry was started on my way out the door for the blood draw and that is now in the dryer and the fourth load is in the washer. The spare bed's sheets were in the dryer while I was out and they are back on the bed.

The hospital bed bedding plus the extra sheets that were out in case I had to quickly remake the hospital bed are now put back into their storage box under the spare bed.

While out I picked up milk and discovered that Diet Dr. Pepper is no more but my store now has Dr. Pepper No Sugar so I bought a bottle to try before committing to more. Plus it will help me get used to the new packaging colours. Coke Zero and Pepsi Max are my preferred no-calorie cola choices so I suspect I'll like this too.

I shopped at two places for a pulse oximeter and didn't find what I wanted. One is available right down town, at a reasonable price (US price plus exchange rate, as opposed to 2 - 3x as much as the US price which is what I find online) so I'll try a closer branch of the tiny pharmacy chain to see if they have one too. If not, I guess I'm going downtown.

I mailed back the Amazon return and picked up some small Easter treats for dd's kids.

I asked dh how he felt about having an Easter dinner with the grands. He asked if I had the energy. I think I do.

Time for a nap now, then water plants, then head out for my meeting.

[Harmony]

Hello! I 'm just puttering around today. I need to go out and water my dry plants. So many storms all across the U.S. and we seem to get none of it, not a drop. I have some paperwork needing to get done since it is a new month. I'm not real motivated to do a lot, so I'll just tackle one thing at a time and see what gets done.

Hope everybody has a nice day.