Meanwhile, on Wednesday

[Harriet]

What do you get done WHILE doing other things?

Yesterday, blessed assigned the cooking of bolognese sauce to her crock pot. MEANWHILE, she got plenty of other things done.

I started thinking - there are plenty of ways we manage to get more than one thing done at a time.
What are your favorites?
What are your tips for getting the most out of your meanwhiles?

[DeeClutter]

Guess my "meanwhile" this morning is to let the laundry twin do the LOL WHILE I'm taking GD to school. I was going to wait until I got back, but this is better.

Everyone's getting ready to go their ways (all except dsonil -he's sleeping in the recliner -how I'll never know). GD is even in a good mood this morning. But then she went to bed by 8pm last night. She absolutely needs it!

I glanced at Med co this morning and closed it right up. It tells me I have a "past due" amount and can't order anything until it's paid. Uh, NO! Everything is automatically paid. Have a horrible feeling dh's S piriva is extremely expensive. We'll see. Supposedly his o meprazole (esophagus) is on its way. I'll look again later -am NOT telling dh this one. At least not right now.

[scattered]

Harriet - Good Morning

Dee - I hope the meds didn't cost to much...

I guess my meanwhile yesterday was having DS20 run errands for me while I was sick in bed, today I am hoping that the DBoys will tidy the house while I am at work.

I am feeling about 80% better this morning and woke to find I had finally been reimbursed for my travel in December, that gives me a little pad in my account. I paid the bills this morning... or at least updated my bill payment center on the CU's website. I need to call the Loan Co today and find out what the pay off amount is on the car as I am hoping to pay it off next month.

Now I need to get my rear in gear so I can be out the door in 40 minutes for work.

ToDo/TaDa
SDR

• s2s (including make-up)
  coffee
  meds & vitamins
  Swish & Swipe

GRWR

• Pack Lunch
  fill coffee cups
  get bags together
  out the door by 0800

Work
When I get home figure out evening routine

AGH!!! I have 35 minutes to get all that done... time to scramble

Have a great day villagers.

[DeeClutter]

I'm only glad we're not going to Disney today -I can barely move this morning. But I'm forcing myself to do just that. Went to church yesterday to work on tearing sheets for bandages (for Africa). My arms a little stiff today, but not nearly as bad as my legs. Perhpaps I'll let them (dks) get a wheel chair the next time. I did ok but as the day wore on it became a little tougher keeping up with everyone. Never would have made it without a cane I'm afraid. DS-A was all for a wheelchair -figured they'd be able to get ahead in line. He's the biggest kid of all! But even dgs6 months enjoyed everything. He had to be on 'sensory overload'.

Chilly out this morning. Not sure what the temp is supposed to be. Know it's extremely cold up home. And there's plenty of snow. Know DS is in constant contact with his 'guys' up there and know they have at least 1 truck 'down'. They had thought about taking a cruise -good thing they didn't. No way he could be in touch at sea.

I really need to do some computer desk time today. Have bills to be paid, etc, etc and figure out what's going on with our account at Med co. It says we owe $121.06 all of which is supposed to be paid through our Amer xpress. Always something to take care of. As my DSisIL says, "Why is it I always have to do someone else's job?"Sure someone has hit the wrong key somewhere. Even has all the info right there for how it's supposed to be paid!

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

My favourite "meanwhiles" are:

Treadmill and CUOP here

Crockpot and days out of the house (it is so nice to know dinner is taken care if while out.)

Laundry twins and dishwasher running while I sleep (my washer and dw have delayed start timers so can start while I'm in bed and I don't mind putting the towels in the dryer just before bed and letting them sit until the morning in the dryer because they don't wrinkle enough to care.)

SAD Light and doing my devotions in the morning. Since I've added the SAD light to my routine, I'm keeping up better with the devotions. That's a triple since I often eat my cereal at the same time as reading the passages.

Other Meanwhiles in my life:

Walking to the store for the mail (another triple, conversation time with dh or sermon planning time, do an errand and exercise).

Watching tv while ironing (I don't do that one enough!)

Air drying my hair while I do something else.

Washing dishes with one of the kids (good conversation time.)

Listening to the Economist while doing housework (blesses my mind while I bless my house.)

Talking on the phone while doing tidying/light housework (staying in touch with friends who need quantity time, not quality time while still maintaining my own home.)

Taking time for lunch with a girlfriend. That, at first glance, is a single item but it blesses me and her so that's a "meanwhile."

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

I'm up and on the treadmill. Today will be a struggle against a lingering headache and the cold. The windchill is -41*C (-42*F, -40 is where the scales meet and below that C becomes warmer than F.)

I have three layers of clothes laid out (except for my feet and my thighs which only have 2 but my feet are in my boots so should be fine and my thighs can be covered with a blanket when I'm sitting and will be fine when in motion.)

My inner core will be warm because I've worked out (right now I'm in a sleeveless yoga top and sweat is dripping from me despite the room being mid 60s) and I'll make soup for lunch today and drink lots of hot water.

A good thing about the weather is that I haven't craved Ice Cream in a VERY long time!

[Harriet]

Oh, "meanwhile, in the village", many bright ideas!

A meanwhile that I use to good advantage for Evening Daily Card is that as I start my pick-up through the house I spritz surfaces in the kitchen. I go on through the house putting things away, and meanwhile the surfaces are soaking, especially spots I've targeted. They are quick to clean after that. When I've had an especially caked spot on the stovetop, I've found covering it with a scrunched paper towel that's been soaked in hot water saves me work and time.

Oh, (Dee). You need the supervisor of the highest supervisor you've talked to in the past. So glad to hear good sleep made a difference.

Feel better, scattered.

sending ~~~~~warming vibes~~~~~~ northward

((Elizabeth)) I think your ideas are good. Maybe just no suggestion of shopping/purchases at all during your time together. If it didn't come up, it wouldn't be a bone of contention. I know how difficult that is when part of what you want to do together is go out into the world, not just stay at home. And the world is very commercial!! Even stopping off for crafting supplies becomes a money-spending event, I know. Maybe decide on the craft ahead of time and you buy the supplies while you're alone. You've enjoyed the library together. Maybe parks, although this swinging concept sounds a little worrying, yes. Cooking together instead of restaurants, which makes me think of watching out for too much sugar or artificial sweets, in case nutrition is part of the picture. (so easy to convince a child to bake cookies, not so easy for a plate of veggie sticks, lol.) Hugs to you.

We are back to normalcy here today, as dd14 starts into the second semester. School run went well in the frozen dark. So cold, but so dry right now, so that's easier.

Yes, helia, she's nervous to meet 3 new teachers today as 3 subjects change from psychology, engineering and world history to science, math and English. Will there be that much change for your dd14? The math and English will be especially tough, she understands. She is holding out hope that some friend might turn up in a new class.

I told dd about helia's dd17 keeping personal track of her own grades and knowing exactly where she stands. (Which is ideal.) Here, they emphasize to the children that they should monitor the teachers' inputting of grades, accessible on the school website. But the teachers don't always record the grades in order or promptly. Also, the "total cumulative" and "current average", among other puzzling columns, are just downright confusing (even to teachers I think, and sometimes we could swear they look reversed, lol!). Who knows, maybe it's difficult to input. In an embarrassment of riches I will tell no where but here (and speaking of hitting the wrong key), her history teacher had a few quarter grades that were percentage points above 100, and one was dd's. He somehow typed them incorrectly for the system, and they were all recorded as whatever the percentage was instead, so he had to quickly email about it that he wasn't failing these students, lol! They got it straight.

HRH has a later schedule today so he made a big breakfast. I am staying away from that!

I'll get some extra work out of him today taking trash and recyclables to the cans. That'll help.

[helia]

It is 2* here right now. That is warmer than yesterday at this time. I have done the typical things I've usually done by this time -- except I have not let the dog back in. I'm not sure if she is inside or out?? --Oh, I just called her and she is inside. Dh must have let her in when he walked out the door.

Meanwhiles. . .My favorite one is putting the crock pot, the rice cooker, and the breadmaker to work while I'm out of the house so I can come home around dinner time to a meal pretty much made!! Other than that, I'll do laundry while doing other chores. As you all know, I do not run laundry twins or dw when I am out of the house or asleep after our dw caught fire a few years ago. So, those are meanwhiles I have stopped doing. I will usually eat lunch and bfast while doing something else, a Bible reading, Hebrew work, something bookish or computerish.

Funny reactions to dd17's grade tracking. I actually shared her behavior here as a bad habit as she is trying to figure out how much free time can she indulge in rather than studying and still get the results that she wants. I guess we all do this to some extent, don't we? We figure out what is the minimal energy and time we can expend on a certain task to get the results we want AND to maximize time to do what we want to do. . . It is good to keep track of grades, and my kids were/are a little obsessive about that with the wonders of powerschool, but dd17 is not trying to do her best - and that is what dh and I think is not good about her behavior.

School ramblings: I was intrigued with the over 100 percent issues for your dd14, Harriet, so I checked powerschool to see if that is an issue for our teachers, and it looks like they just round up to the closest whole number over 100. I hope your dd14 does find some friends in her classes! Do you do block scheduling that those classes are switching out for new classes? All core academic classes here are 2 semesters, however other schools in the area - one in the district even - do block scheduling and trimesters so not all their academic classes run all year long. The only change to dd14's schedule is her 7th hour art and design class will change to a personal fitness class, a required class that it is good to get out of the way early. Dd17's schedule will change a little more; AP econ, her painting and drawing class, and her independent art study with teacher S will switch to AP govt, an independent art study with teacher T (head of the art dept.), and a free 7th hour which she will use 2-3x a week to tutor a struggling 9th grader that has been assigned to her and to study for her SAT and ACT while waiting for dd14's 7th hour class to finish. At least that is the current idea. . . . . I wish English classes at our high school were more challenging. Even dd17's AP English class is not a lot of work, or at least it is not a lot of work for her. I think the classes are too large to have the kids do a lot of writing, which is not good. Dd14 is toying with the idea of trying to test out of English 10 this summer. There are some things to think through with that course of action, but we're not at that point yet. Math here however is known to be challenging; of great interest to us locals, a friend of dd14's moved out of state in Nov. and was put ahead a year in math in her new school, as was her younger brother. Clearly, the material covered in the geometry course here was not the same as material covered in the geometry course there, and so she fit right into the next year of math.

OK, I am procrastinating. I'm off to get the a.m. routine done!

[Twins' Mom]

Good morning to the Village! The best "meanwhile" for me is the washer/dryer and pacing the laundry. Firing up Bert and Ernie and keeping them fed (as scattered says) is the way to go; I also pace the work by inserting a load of delicates that are hung up to dry which gives me additional time before folding the dryer load. Also the breadmaker, as Helia notes - I love being able to start challah and then have 1.5 hours before I have to do anything to it. I would like to start using crockpot more, but OTOH we're not cooking that much anyway.

Dh left in a huff this morning as he found a small piece of trim that apparently had separated from the dishwasher somewhere, and frankly, I didn't care. I got a lecture about how a new house is supposed to be perfect so I suggested that he determine where this trim came from and contact the builder himself.

I have enough work at the office that I could work today but I need the day off more. Tonight I am going for the sleep study - I have no appointments today but here is a rough PODA:
-new dress for black tie fundraiser on Feb 2
-p/u alterations, drop off a pair of pants that need hemming
-read sleep study info
-groceries and gas
-numerous emails:
---temple related-at least half a dozen
---re: dsis petition
-call SS office in response to letter to dd received yesterday
-deal with lots of papers
-routines

I may try for a power nap later. I read until very early this morning and then slept in some, but I do want to be tired so I can sleep tonight. Doc says at least 60% chance I have sleep apnea.

For now.....pass the BGS to unstick my behind.

-refill meds containers for week
-try to call SS office re dsis
-email re dsis petition
-start a lol
-make the bed

I still need to walk the ddogs this morning - trying to let the day warm up a bit. Don't want to get dressed yet because then ddogs will start hounding me. It is 31 degrees but after the warmer weather we've had I'm not used to it.

[Twins' Mom]

Quick round, email was fired off and I had to leave a message at SS office.

And going again....
-water plants (not done on Sunday)
-clear kitchen table of papers and stuff that migrates
-read instructions re: sleep study, they just called to confirm my appt to be there at 7:30
-respond to three temple emails
-deal with 10 pieces of paper