Tuesday Thoughts

[sherinjoy]

Hi - thinking of you all and definitely agree with two wise statements written by villagers - MT and Okay - it is so important to keep myself surrounded by positive people and supportive friends - and this wonderful cyber village is filled with loving, upbeat friends! Thank you!

I still had leftover Christmas stuff (Santa sweaters in closet, holiday jewelry, wrapping paper, cards, etc.) around the house and made a commitment to myself that I would have it all put away by Jan. 31 - that's today! So I'm finishing that job this afternoon. I'll still have to have my DH help me put the bins up in the attic, but they will be stored and ready to go in the garage. I remember on Flylady it was always a joke that you had to put away Christmas before Valentine's Day - ha, ha. I'm glad I beat that deadline.

Off to the tasks.

[sherinjoy]

I forgot to mention an article I read this morning on Unclutterer.com site about Dinner meal plans for large families. "Dinner organizing advice from 10 large families" was an interesting article that I thought some of you might enjoy, adding to your discussions about meal plans and prep for freezer meals.

[Elizabeth]

I just found out I will be out of town Wed night. YIKES!!! I had to arrange a hotel and get XDH to take care of cats on the double. I hate these trips, but if that is the worst thing at my job, life is good. If only they would consult me about meeting times and places. I could make it so much more convenient for myself.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

I'm ready for a nap but have a meeting here in 1:45.

Dh is out shoveling.

The driving is appalling and the freezing rain hasn't started yet. It took ages and was a white knuckle drive for me back from the city.

Volunteering went well. I decided to make this my last week before holidays. I have to go into town next week for my hair cut but to save 3 - 4 hours of volunteering will likely be a good idea.

I went and applied for my police check. It should arrive in the mail in 4 weeks. I have now passed my clearance form along to my Board, applied for the police check and forwarded my course completion certificate for Presbytery so they have everything from me in order to license me. I still have to have an interview but that should be a formality.

I'm so far behind on paperwork that it is at least good to get my licensing stuff out of the way. Maybe now I'll be able to focus on finances. Although right now, I'm completely distracted, thinking about the trip.

I just remembered I've forgotten to order ZARs from the bank (South African Rands.) Another mess up by me. Sigh.... We need cash to pay the driver and may end up buying it at a currency place since I don't know if the bank can get it in time (our local branch needs 10 business days.)

I'd better run and find something else to do to prep for the meeting. Changing into warm clothes is a good start. The Presbytery office is really hot so I don't wear a lot of clothes there like I do at home.

[Nancy]

Basement is calling, h. has the TV on upstairs but I can sew, vacuum etc. down stairs. ~*poof~*

[Elizabeth]

So long folks! I am off to Girls' Night Out (or more likely Girls' Night In). It will definitely include Chinese food though.

[helia]

Thank you sherinjoy! I really enjoyed the article. Our family is surprisingly similar to the families interviewed in many respects. We are also a little different in some respects. For example, we may eat more meat than the average family interviewed, though it is true that we are not huge meat eaters. (Dh is not a huge meat eater.) And we do go out to eat a fair bit (2x/week as a family, once every other week on a date night with a kid). Dh and I happen to enjoy eating out, and 2/3 of our kids do too. When we eat out, we do prefer local restaurants to national chains. Although, I took dd16 on her dinner date tonight, and she chose QDoba. I was surprised to hear that some of the "large families" included families with 3 kids, like ours. I didn't know having 3 kids was considered a large family. Eating together is a struggle for us, but it is a priority we believe in strongly and strive for. We did end up eating dinner together, all 5 of us, at 9 pm last night. That was when everyone was home from their activities, the girls from the painting class, ds from robotics, and dh and I got home from the visitation at 8:15 and cooked a quick pasta dinner. Ds was quite happy we ate together, even though it was so late. I was tickled at his pleasure in our family meal. . . .

Right now, ds is off to robotics after his date night with dh. (We got behind so we doubled up tonight, which left dd13 to fend for herself, but she was OK with that.) Dh is now at ceramics class with dd13. Dd16 is here, and I'm off to more Hebrew.

[Sadie]

Hello dear ladies,

Have been away from the computer for awhile but wanted to stop by and wave.

Lots of stress here, I have body aches from it.

One Dson told me, I was so calm through things, I was amazed he said that as I feel like I am falling apart.

Will try to stop by tomorrow, maybe I'll feel better and things will be better too.

[OKay]

((((Sadie)))) you are amazing!! That is a fact! Your DSon is wise to recognize it.

I checked up on DParents before I left and again on my way home. Picked up 4 prescriptions for DParents and delivered them. DMom shoulder is swollen where she fell on it, but she says it is not as painful as yesterday. She has been icing it and that has helped.

My Doctor appt went well and I now have colonscope scheduled for 1st week of March. joy joy.

I made several stops while in town. I drove the truck to town with plans of using it to haul fencing supplies home with me for my next garden project. However when i told sales person what I was going to use it for, she gave me a "ole timey" solution that I want to try before proceeding with my idea.

Went to medical supply store and picked up replacement CPAP mask for DH. Insurance pays for new mask every 6 months so I have a card that reminds me to replace it in a timely manner...otherwise it is $235 our cost to buy the mask. Eeek!

I visited with paralegal. Feb 12th is the next deadline the judge set for them to meet. The limbo continues....

[Harriet]

((Sadie)) Bless your heart. I am cheered when I see that you've posted. It is no surprise to me to read that when days are hard you are reassuring to others.

I also followed sherinjoy's link and enjoyed reading about meals. It's funny, I was just chatting with HRH's friend about eating in the den/living area and I agreed with him that that was not such a bad thing. His daughter's family (two young teens and mom, dad) were recently criticized for eating in their den area rather than at table. He says that's actually how he and his wife reared the daughter, though, and he never thought it was wrong because they still interacted with each other during the meal. I really do believe that's fine, and yet also believe in teaching table manners clearly and making sure the children don't think that's a trivial subject - they will need that knowledge. Not all meals should be casual, but if some are, I think that's natural, and an extra way to bond.

It was interesting to me that none of the families planned as far as a month. Since I plan so poorly, I figured bright folks out there were planning far in advance. Does anyone else remember those month-long menu calendars in some magazine - Better Homes, maybe, or one of the others.... not sure. Maybe they still do it. I used to look at those in awe. Never used them, because invariably they'd suggest meals I thought sounded odd or unappetizing, or there would be complicated recipes you had to read elsewhere in the mag, but I was so impressed with the effort.

I am really dreading the appt in the morning. This is the doctor who thought adjusting my thyroid med would help me lose weight, and even though I've lost some over the last 3 months (with great mental effort), I fear that I may not have lost since last seeing him and changing the med, 6 months ago. I know that's not the whole point, I just hate to have a big failure hanging over the visit. I've become more and more convinced that thyroid meds do virtually nothing on their own to aid weight loss.

I, too, am thinking of Mr. Sunny today.