Wow Wednesday

[DeeClutter]

Yep, Harriet, found them! Dh just lifted the bed up for me -there they were. There's several other things under there as well -that I'm sure I have not listed.

Think I have everything packed now except dh's phone & charger. Have made a note of those so hopefully we don't forget in the morning.

Was going to make chili for supper but someone had given dh some french onion soup then another brought over a big container of chili. So glad I didn't make that. However with dh going to be gone for 4 days, I think I'll put the chili in separate containers and freeze them.

Meeting ds-R at 4:30 in the morning. Going to Tim Horton's so dh can go in for coffee and donuts. DS wanted us to meet him nearer the expressway. This is only a mile and a half further and so much easier for a meet.

After that I'll probably come home and sleep (or try) for a few hours. I know I'll barely sleep tonight -never do when I know I have to be up early for a time line.

[Twins' Mom]

Beautiful evening here - walked the ddogs a mile. Temp is 68 and it's clear as a bell. Can still see the light fading in the west over the Cumberland Plateau, there's a beautiful crescent moon, too. Dneighbors have a fire in their firepit out where the lots drop off. Beautiful view!

[lucylee]

Wow -- I'm five pages behind, PLUS what I missed yesterday! Forgive me for sounding so ignorant of everything that is going on...

I did see where someone -- Scattered? -- took a 12-hour nap last night! There must be something in the air!
I fell asleep on the couch @ 9:30 last night, b/c I was too tired to get up & take off my make-up and all the stuff you need to do before you fall into bed...
So I slept and I slept and I slept. I remember waking up at least once -- dh says more than once -- and saying I should go to bed NOW... but he said no sooner would I say it than I'd be back asleep.
I got up @ 2:00 a.m. and took off my make-up, took my meds, picked out clothes for today, and fell back in bed.
I think I got 8.5 hours' sleep, give or take my brief waking moments. I really did feel better today; that's for certain.
But I'm yawning already, and I have a bunch of stuff to do tonight, too.

Dee, IKWYM about not being able to sleep when you have early morning activities... we are the same way, especially dh.

I love ALL of P&P's books, but I can't seem to make the move from reading to doing. * sigh * Finding a moment when time & energy are present at the same moment is just almost impossible anymore. I am hoping things will change when I finally do retire.

(((Harriet's dd))) and the missing sketch book! So glad it turned up!

Talk about mail order meds makes me wonder if ds/ddil ever did anything about getting her birth control pills covered.
* whew * Dgs is just an angel and we are sooo sooo thrilled with him it is beyond belief... but oh. my. goodness. We certainly don't need to add another baby to that household right now... Oh. my. goodness.

(((Ivy))) Hope you feel better soon!

LIkewise, (((Kathryn)))!

Ohhh... (((Elizabeth))) I'm so sorry about the job situation! Praying something opens up soon for you!

Waving to OKay... (((HUGS)))... and continuing to pray for all of you, too!

(((Cowinkie))) (((very gentle, quiet hugs)))

Sooo glad Mystery is back with us!!!

Ditto instructions to nap, Harriet! I highly recommend it!

Hmmmm... scattered says we all deserve a high five... let me think...

WTG w/your new position, scattered!

Waving to blessed and all I may have missed!

My high five... hmmm...
Well -- this is my ta-da list for the day:
* helped give state graduation exam
* worked on school newspaper
* volunteered to watch someone's class while he attended meeting
* ran errand for dh
* talked to dmom on phone
* ate supper
* am still awake

[scattered]

Twins - I am loving the book, people can't believe I am reading something non-fiction because I keep loling. My DFS19 decided to take a bunch of "junk" to GW and ended up taking about $500 worth of DS19's shoes... not sure that DS19 has completely forgiven him for that yet. Yes DS19 is a shoe hoe... he got it from me.
Dee - awesome *5 for finding the bags.
Lucy - that looks like a lot of *5's there.

Everything is done now, watching "Covert Affairs" on DVR. I love my DVR I can watch my shows without having to watch the commercials.

ToDo's/TaDa's
S2s
Work
Stuff Chicken and get it in oven
Nap
Eat Dinner
Homework
Bed


See ya'll in the morning.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Good day. I guess I made the best use of my 'up time.'

Got down to the Seaway in time to see a laker go by. Just as we finished dinner, an ocean going ship went by too. So two ships this trip (makes up for none last time.) The Seaway will be closing for winter in December but the odds of seeing ships drops dramatically as the season draws to a close (the ocean going ones don't want to get trapped in the Great Lakes.)

Dinner was good, fish and chips from the take-out place and then we eat in a park on the water. I took milk for us to drink and a salad for me to make sure I got my veggies.

After dinner, we headed to the dealership.

We'll probably own a new Prius V by the end of the week. We put down a deposit and the dealer is now looking hard for a Clear Sky Metallic one. We didn't want silver (too common, someone at church owns one) or white. All the other colours are dark and would show dirt too much. So Clear Sky Metallic is it. Our current car is a pale green they call Silver Pine Mica and it does look silvery in certain light. We love that the colour isn't obvious. But if they can't get it, I'm going for Barcelona Red (love the city, love the colour!) or their magnetic (dark) grey which looks like something you'd see on a Mercedes. I remember reading somewhere, a long time ago, that if you want to look classy, just stick with the colours the Mercedes and BMW offer on their cars! That applies to everything, clothes, furniture, hair colours!

I never drove it, instead opting for test the recline feature of the back seat. The saleslady pointed out that the back seat is designed to be used as a chaise lounge and if you don't have a front passenger it works beautifully. The front seat reclines back to join up with the back seat bench and you settle in with your legs supported by the front seat. It is very comfortable, and much safer than simply reclining in the front seat because of the air bags and position of the seat belt.

The purchase process was easy. I had priced my car on the Kelly Blue Book site and ended up getting $1500 more on the trade which pleased me. For $7K more than I spent last time, I'm getting heated seats, moon roof, fully integrated electronics so our smart phones will work through the radio system and we'll be able to do hands-free calling with them, backup camera, and more storage room (the main reason we're upgrading - the Prius was just too small for us.) Dh is really, really, happy. He loves spending money and I even let him get a new car this time!

He's pretty shocked though. Because we only have one car, if anything happens to ours I don't have a lot of time to make a decision on what to get. So I start considering cars a long time before we need a new car. I started my research on this starting in January. June we both looked at the car and July ds and I spent 30 minutes going over the car with a fine-tooth comb. In July I decided we'd buy one before next August having eliminated all the other hybrids on the market and I have been shopping for a demonstrator (emailing dealers) this past month.

But as far as dh was aware, I pointed the car out to him in June, he mentioned the reclining seat when I got sick, we checked out our friend's car's back seat recline on Sept. 1, I showed him the letter that arrived from Toyota yesterday, and today we bought.

Also today, I proposed that we holiday at a friends resort in Granada instead of cruising this winter. It will take me three days to get there (day one go to Montreal, day two Miami, arrive on day 3) and same on return but it looks doable and once we are there it is a good place for me to just sit. That gets dh his sun and break from winter. So he's busy emailing our friend to see what dates she can put us up.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Mystery: Re: XKCD, this might help http://xkcd-map.rent-a-geek.de/ You can zoom out and then back in when you spot something that might have captioning.

[lucylee]

Thanks, scattered!
Now I can add more ta-da's --
* re-typed English 9 syllabus
-- re-did dates & state standards -- After years of following state graduation exam standards, and having to coordinate everything we taught to THOSE standards, and having to show that on our weekly lesson plans... now we are phasing out that test and must match our curriculum to ACT prep standards and new state Course of Study. AAUAUGUGUGHHH!!! THIS is the kind of thing that just makes me want to (alternately) cry and/or cuss... or cuss AT somebody till THEY cry!!! AAUUUGGHGHGHHH!!! This is definitely the kind of thing that makes me ready to retire, also!!!
I just put the new numbers in. They don't really mean anything to me at this point, either, but if someone questions me about it, I can easily show them the correlation, and honestly, the chances of anyone questioning me -- or even LOOKING at ANY of this are really slim and none.
* created less detailed syllabus for reading remediation class
* created list of standards for students who might be taking "credit recovery" class if they fail my class

I'm sorta going blind now...

I have other things I need to do but I don't think I'll make much more progress.

Car sounds nice, Kathryn!

[Ivy]

Harriet, You're lucky to see visible and invisible neighbors. Ours are all invisible, 1/4 - 1/3 mile away through woods.

Dee, I'm glad you found what you were looking for. I've lost a red turtleneck, which wasn't a true bright red, but I wore it beneath sweaters or cardigans. It's vanished! "POOF"! I've looked everywhere several times, had made an ARC donation, so it must have gotten donated out by accident. I'm not sad about it because it was a drab red and the sleeves seemed too tight. I hope it found a skinnier-armed owner.

Oh, Twins' Mom, I see where you had thought you accidentally donated to Goodwill or something, too. I guess that happens more than we'd like to imagine.

I'm glad you got in a good nap, scattered and had a great dinner, too. Our dinner was good, too.... because DH cooked it.

Waving hello to lucylee, Kathryn, (hope you're better, K.) Elizabeth, OKay, Cowinkie, and Mystery.


My dr. sends me a record of my appt. and he called my ear Cellulitis. I started the antibiotics today, it's still very red and sore. Under the ear on the top neck is red, feels like a bruise, and my left lower neck is sore, but normal color. The left side of my head in back is sore, too. I'll see him soon. I'm a tiny bit scared if he needs to do an incision to drain it, but if it'll help it heal better and "look" better, I'll be happy with that. I read on-line at http://www.medlineplus.com how it can cause fatigue, or lethargy, too. I had 2 naps today and laid down after dinner, but didn't sleep.

I didn't do anything today, except start a letter and washed 1 load of clothes and dried them. DH (bless his heart!) ♥ took them out of the dryer and folded them all. I'm heading to go write a PODA on my steno pad and number some lines for a ta da for tomorrow. It helps keep me motivated somehow.

Everybody have a good sleep and a nice Thinking Thursday, too!

[Harmony]

Lucylee, that sounds like a complicated way of teaching.

Kathryn, congratulations on the new car. It sounds really nice.

Ivy, I sure hope your ear heals and no further doctoring will be necessary.

Harriet, I had a thought about the manuka honey. If it gets it's wonderful properties from the blossom of the tea tree, well, wouldn't it just be easier and more effective to use tea tree oil? I've tried to use that for various things but can't get past the smell. I'm assuming the honey tastes better than that oil smells.

Dee, I miss the things we can't plant down here, lilac, forsythia.

(Elizabeth) I really hope a job shows up soon for you.

So, today was just another day. I started out doing a bit of sewing. I was up to the hand sewing part when DH needed me to chauffeur him to a store, an office and then to a jobsite. I worked hard at getting spots close to the door or I picked him up. He was having a really hard day.

Nice long nap after dinner (which I think I forgot to eat) and then a bit more sewing. I'm just trying to get through each day. No word from either of the doctors yet.

[lucylee]

Lucylee, that sounds like a complicated way of teaching.

You got that right, Harmony. And that is the #1 reason I am beginning to feel like I will be happy NOT teaching when May 24 gets here.
One of the things I need to be doing right now is filling out an online form that explains my "professional development" plan and how I will endeavor to improve myself and meet my goals of implementing this complicated way of teaching.
Then, after I complete that, I will have to meet w/d?asst principal to have a "dialogue" about this plan.

33 weeks and 2 days... that's how many school weeks till May 24.

(((Ivy))) Lots of good wishes for speedy healing!