Together Tuesday

[Cowinkie]

Morning y'all...

Temp to day is normal for this time of year...96* with cooler temp. expected by the weekend. AZ translation: 92*

I got bit by the clutter bug this morning and have been on a whorl wind kind of a day. Started preparing my closet for my fall clothes switch...Made piles for GW and those that I need to pack away. Went though my undies and tossed everything I hated or did not wear....that included sports bras and the likes. Then I hit my misc. drawers and reorganized and tossed as much as I could. Was going to work on a few bathroom drawers, but Sweetie is back for the store and painting our new wall where our bathroom window used to be....no thank you to small areas and the smell of paint.

Laundry is dancing and spinning. The other day I bought one of those dohickies that you use to clean out the lint in your dryer. I'll let you know how it works after I finish the laundry today.

Lilac...I hate tough love for just that reason...it makes me end up feeling bad....but I've been know to do it a time or two

Scattered....I feel like with time our ties to each other here at our village only become stronger. I too moved away from my home at 18 for similar reasons. And I raised my son without the help of family. I lived in a neighborhood that was isolated from the rest of the world...I was 5 miles from gas and 12 from a grocery store....and it was a magical time. Many of us were stay-at-home moms with husbands that traveled for work or just put in long times at work for their careers. We became much like we are here in the village. No computers back then only a land line phone. 6-9 of us met everyday at one friends house after lunch. It was nap time for many of our kids and the kitchen area was often lined with sleeping babies. We gathered around the kitchen table, swapped wars stores, vented and just enjoyed each other company. We drifted in and out over the afternoon until we had get ready for dinner.

When one of us was sick, the others would come take our kids or babies and someone always brought dinner to the house. It was such a wonderful time in my life and I really missed it until I found our village. It feels the same way here except I can't "see" y'all when we talk

Pedometers...me too, me too....I found mine last night and its now hanging on my hip. Great minds think alike
Nancy...I was all the smoke in your area on the news last night. There's even talk that it might drift my way.

Dinner, dinner, dinner...did someone say what to cook dinner for tonight??? Ooops, forgot I have meatloaf and such left over from last night...phew.......

My giggle for the day....instead of cleaning, I just watched an episode of hoarders....I didn't realize how fantastic my house really looks!!! (thats my story and I'm sticking to it)

Nitters Lynlee...I love your positive attitude....

Lawrence is planning to attack...hate them' camels. their nasty hooves really do a number on my floors.

[ellyphant]

Good afternoon, all! I agree this is a lovely place to be on the web.

Went to dentist this morning. Would like to have some lunch, but mouth is so numb. It feels like only half of my throat is working when I swallow. Not liking this! I am glad to be able to get teeth under control now that we have dental insurance again, though.

Helia--My mother is not that interested in my 2 kids. They are her only grandchildren. I think my DB would be jealous if she showed them too much attention. We lived 30 minutes from her when they were very young. She kept them a couple times for me, but she never made it easy. I had to bring them to her, she wouldn't stay with them at our house. Then we moved far away and only got back to visit every summer. Left kids with her once for about an hour, thinking she would get to know them. But she went and took a nap for that hour and left them sitting there. After one visit where she talked to her cat more than she talked to any of us, our visits with her got shorter and shorter. Thankfully, she turned me over to DSGM as an infant, so I learned my mothering and (someday) grandmothering skills from her.

[helia]

((elly)) For numbness and dmom. There are all sorts of moms out there, aren't t here?

Yes, very apt title for this group, scattered.

Cowinkie, that does sound like a magical time! I've had conversations with other friends who have talked about how special friendships are that are formed between moms when they have/are having young kids. I feel that way about my friendships in TX, where I had all 3 of my kids. One friend in particular. . . I am not a phone person, but I was on the phone with her probably every day. We both were willing to go for spontaneous play dates together with our troop of little ones - trips to the park, each other's homes (no judging on tidiness), indoor gym areas, etc. My dh traveled a lot more back then, and those friendships were a life saver.

I have made one DPC to order flowers for my dmom for her birthday! I made sure it would have sunflowers in it, since she loves sunflowers. She is from KS, after all. I gathered laundry, started a load of darks, sent an email to band director re: a random lone tuxedo w/ name in the uniform room, sent an email to dfriend asking what she wanted me to bring to the brunch on Thursday..

Next:
-switch laundry
-call bank
-a little puttering

Then, it will be time to change to go out for my jog.

[Sadie]

Hello Dear Ladies,

Another beautiful day here. I broke up my walk into two phases because DH needed my help so I got over 30 minutes in total.

Harriet, thank you for the compliment on Bible reading. I haven't read it cover to cover before either, just parts of it at a time so I've been enjoying it. I also found that there are parts I would like to go back to and spend more time in so that might be a goal for next year.

There is a farewell party for co-worker Felecia at a restaurant at 5:30 this evening. Most of us have Tuesdays off and the ones who are working this evening are going to take their meal break then so they will be there too. I planned it as a surprise but one of the co-workers mentioned she would be at her party, so the cat was out of the bag. Co-worker felt badly about mentioning it to Felecia, but I said don't worry about it. Maybe God wanted her to know so that just the thought of the party would cheer her up, and then the party would keep her happy too. She leaves on Sunday for Arizona to live with her mother who is now clean and drug free. Praying this all goes well for all.

DH is fighting anxiety again. This time it is jury duty summons. I told him that I don't think they will pick him, but he worries, worries, worries to the point where he makes himself sick. I'll go with him, it on October 22, and hopefully I can sit with him for support while they choose the jurers. Maybe if he tells about his anxiety issues when questioned, they won't pick him.

Yes, I am so grateful for this village too, it has seen me through some rough times in my life. And happy ones too.

We have one son that is married, and his wife's parents divorced several years ago, so it is like she has two sets of parents already. I usually plan our Thanksgiving dinner on a different day. I work on the holiday, so it works out well. Christmas Day they come here, her one parent does Christmas Eve dinner and they other does an after Christmas Day dinner, so that works out ok too. I never make a big deal of having the dinners on the holiday itself and sometimes we just order something and eat it together. Less cooking and clean up for me.

Need to load the dishwasher and then maybe do some reading.

[helia]

Harriet, referring back to the apple conversation , I'm not sure you got a good honeycrisp. Maybe they're a little on the tart side, but certainly not like a granny smith (we have both in our house now - I used the granny smith for the apple crisp on Saturday), and they are a bit sweet too, at least a good one is. Maybe a matter of taste, though. Some apples I find too bland, like the delicious sorts. I do like galas.

DPC to the bank made. Now, dh needs to call kids' bank b/c I think dd16's account, which we supposedly closed in August, may still be open. . . . Argh! Dh never called re: the $10 maintenance fee in August for the account that was closed. But if $$ is still being transferred, then maybe they are getting that fee after all. . .Not sure what is going on, but $$ was transferred from our account to that bank earlier this month, and I'd like to know where it went.

Off to go jog. I need to be home by 4:15 to take dd14 to oboe.

[Elizabeth]

Good afternoon everyone. I too am grateful for our little village. It helps when I have to do unpleasant things like recalculate child support based on zero income (should be zero, but I have to have the proper forms). I need to call the pet sitter too. There are 14 things on my list, but I won't bore you with them. The important things are to remember to pick up DD10 for Girls' Night Out and pick up my prescription. I am still reviewing documents at payroll, so I had better get a move on.

[Cowinkie]

Helia...

I forgot to tell you..after you mentioned honey crisps yesterday I needed to run to the grocery. on the off chance that my apples were in since yours were I am happy to report I have honey crisp apples sitting on my counter. Thanks you for mentioning them....don't think I would have started looking for them till Oct. I am a happy girl

Yes Ivy, retirement is wonderful...today while I was making lunch for Sweetie I looked at the clock and remembered where I would have been if working...though I am having a busy day filled with mindless chores, I'm enjoying every minute of it. Before I began my career...I didn't start till I was 37....I always loved being home. I just forgot how much I enjoyed it

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

I'm in bed and about to drift off to sleep.

Got my goal for the day completed at volunteering - all the books I'm keeping have had their records updated (the flag for it to not be deleted from the database plus their category updated.) I was working steadily on that but slowly so was only just 2/3 done when dh arrived. He read read to me while I did the data entry so I didn't have to keep moving my eyes from the screen to the paper, or my hands from the keyboard to the pen (to check off that I had updated the record.) Ended up staying about 90 minutes longer than I planned. Had some amazing carrot cake to hold me over on lunch (plus I had brought grapes and crackers for a snack.)

After that, we did groceries at Walmart and a grocery store. I grabbed a burger for my lunch while dh went through the checkout at Walmart.

Once home, dh unloaded the car and I loaded the fridge.

So a successful day but I'm exhausted once more. I forgot dinner was to have been from the crockpot today so I have nothing for dinner. Sigh... We do have some leftovers I think will still be edible. Is roast chicken OK on day 3 after first served?

[Ivy]

Good Afternoon, Villagers!

I felt so much better after a hot shower and shampoo. Even washed up "that ear" really good with soap and rinsed it, since it had been feeling itchy due to healing.

The book I ordered today on clearing away the clutter wasn't supposed to ship until Thurs., but they shipped it out today! I'm so looking forward to it! I think it'll have good ideas, too.

I made 2 Christmas card lists; 1 for pen pals and 1 for friends/family. I put Christmas labels on the pen pal cards, might try to address them, if I get around to it.

I cut out 4 more Autumn bookmarks, which I printed off the internet. So pretty with the tree and all the birds. Very Autumn-like.

I tidied the eating bar and dining room table up. I started a load of laundry. Is it just me, or is there anybody else here that finds doing laundry to be therapeutic? It's just 1 job that you start, the washer does all the work, you put them in the dryer, the dryer does all the work, and then the job's done once you fold/hang and put away. It also takes me back to being a little girl when Mom taught me how to do laundry, so I guess it gives me that little girl sense of accomplishment still. DH compliments me on how I keep the laundry up, which is so nice of him because if I'm busy doing something else, I enlist him to dry clothes or get them out of the dryer.

We saw 3 deer first, then later there were 2 other deer. It's cool and cloudy here, I'm in a sweatsuit because the house is cool. It's supposed to heat up in the afternoon so this is why we're not building a fire. It's run us out of here.

Cowinke, I'm glad you enjoy being home. Is your Sweetie retired, too?

Elizabeth, I, too, am grateful for the village. Your list sounds long.

Helia, Don't Granny Smith apples make good applesauce, too? Dmil used to put in some almond extract into her applesauce to give it a different taste, which was pleasant.

Sadie, It's good you got in a lot of walking and helped your DH, too.

Harriet, I've never read the Bible cover to cover either, but I sure have my favorite books, which I go to again and again. I know how your DH feels, having an anxiety disorder myself. I get out of jury duty. I just couldn't handle sitting there for so long.

((Ellyphant))) For the numbness and dmom. Hope it gets better soon. You're lucky you have dental insurance! My mom never was interested in my kids until our DS grew up. She tends to favor boys over girls.

Helia, It sounds like those friendships mean a lot even now.

Hello to Scattered. I still loved the start-upper words. So perfect.

Nancy, Do you hens lay fewer eggs in the winter months?

MysteryWoman, I don't know what "happened" after I took my shower. My lymph glands, etc... felt so much better! No "pun" intended, but it's a Mystery to me!

[Emptynester]

We are the only ones in a campground in west central Kansas. It is sooooo peaceful. I'm watching the squirrels running all over the place. There are lots of oak trees here so I assume they are gathering acorns.

The first part of the trip was cattle country. Mostly pastures - once in a while a hay field - but no crops. I suddenly realized that I had horizons!!!! You know how I love it when I can see for miles. Lots of small sunflowers (maybe brown eyed Susans) along the sides of the roads. We were only on Interstate for about 3 miles and mostly on Kansas State Roads.

The second part was more crops. We saw several fields that the dirt was jet black. Then we realized that they had burned the stubble. DUH!! Lots of beans, some milo and some places they were getting ready to plant winter wheat.

We will be staying here 3 nights and just vegging out. Time to read some books, do a little stitching and DH to do some carving.

PS: Love the honey crisp apples!! Can't wait to get to a bigger town to pick some up.