Thursday writers.

[lucylee]

Hello to everyone!

I expected to be zombie-like today, after two VERY late nights... but I've made it okay SO FAR.

(((Harriet))) I just can't imagine being able to do what you do with the grace and good attitude you show. HRH obviously is such a wonderful support system for you, though. He's one in a million, IMHO!

Harmony -- my students would agree with you whole-heartedly: WHY does Dickens take 3 pages to say what he could have said in 1 sentence??? I have to agree that I would not be likely to choose Dickens to read for a fun pastime on the beach... but I do think he has a lot of good things to say, and I'm glad my students have been exposed to him. There are always a few every year who really like Great Expectations, and then there are the others who never even pretend to read the book.

Excitement here was the text message this morning from a t & t -- telling me I had incurred $50 in overage charges!!!

I called them back, and yes it is true... for the first time EVER... in probably at least 15 years... there we are. WAAAAY over our minutes... used up all our rollover minutes... yep... not a mistake. I had really started to believe we had unlimited minutes -- since we had NEVER used more than our plan allowed.
However, I have gotten more and more likely to use the cell phone, even when I am home, PLUS, I have been talking to ddad AND dmom every day since they went to Texas (and it's not mobile to mobile b/c they are on the V... company. Soooo... I guess we'll just pay the piper. DH said we have let rollover minutes expire, repeatedly, in the past, so if we pay more while dmom & ddad are out of town, so be it.
I can talk to them on the home phone, of course... I've just got to be a little more aware of what I'm doing, I guess.
* sheesh *

Ivy, I don't think it's strange that you have such a connection to the new grandbaby! Especially after all those boys, having a little girl has to be special!
Last night, dgs let me rock him and hold him for over an hour after his last bottle. He and I both dozed in the recliner while waiting for ds & dh to get home. He is really at a sweet age. I could never have imagined how much I would enjoy being a grandma!

[Lynlee]

lol about the dickens and the adler quotes - I passed by so many wordy beyond my tolerance quotes from both of them. I admit to looking for / choosing quotes re actions, relationships, beliefs and healthy transformation for home makers and family interests - without them bashing our heads with strangeness.

I love the Bob Marley quote. I've put it to the side so will use it one day. It was his birthday recently - wondering if I found any quotes of his to use. I didn't see that one.

Harriet - I use the - she could do it standing on her head and I need not try stop her to control the situation- method. Its working so far.
I sometimes have dealings with a paid worker who has different ways of doing things from me. Last year I came unstuck over one of those differences. All the bad old stuff swimming in my brain obsessively.
It took time but I have learnt to say that I need to let her say whatever and not have an opinion. She can do it standing on her head and I need not have a judgement or an opinion. That said - I saw her yesterday. I did ask if she wanted to lead the meeting when she was interrupting to talk to a new comer. She said no. then started an excuse. then that was that. I kept my mental health intact. Though the meeting was challenging even so with a different newcomer's interruptions.

lights off thursday night was midnight, though turned it back on later to read for 45min until I was dropping off at 1.30.
I'm making an effort to get back the readings / healthy input and write a prayer for the day in the morning habit, and checklist summary and write a page each night.

Friday here
tmeds, dog out and in, readings, breakfast prepared, read here.

next
eat, dress for yoga and go. Appointment later today.

[Elizabeth]

CUE HALLELUJIAH CHORUS LOUD!!! The owner of our company approved overhead hours, which means my paycheck got bigger. Still not up to a full paycheck, but better. I have printed DD10's party invitation, I need to fill it in and make copies. I've downloaded some info I needed. I am going to check my 1099-R for box 7 tonight! I rolled over an IRA and the form I got makes it look like income. I need to check an email from Monday, which I probably won't do until tomorrow. Last night's Bible study resulted in HOMEWORK! I haven't had homework in years (decades?). Tonight is art class night. See you later or tomorrow.

[Cowinkie]

Helia.... I loved Flannery O'conner. I minored in English lit in college and was introduced to many amazing writers that I might not ever have read otherwise....ray bradbury's Illistrated Man comes to mind.

Ivy..I have my new glasses on....this is my training wheel period. They are making me a bit sea sick, but know from experience this should get better.

[Lilac]

Elizabeth, that is wonderful news that you will be receiving a bigger paycheck. I sincerely hope that your boss appreciates the way you have hung in there and worked without any compensation for it at times.

Ivy, I understand your connection to your dgd. 4 years ago on Feb. 2, I was diagnosed with diabetes. I had a terrible time accepting that. Shortly after that dd2 told me that her and her new dh were expecting a baby. I already had 5 grandkids but knowing that another was on the way, really helped me. From the minute she was born, her and I have had a connection. When she was 10 months old, dd2 got pregnant again. When she had that baby girl, they gave her my dm and my middle name. Dm goes by her middle name. At 19 months old, I was aware that she might feel left out. I made sure that she never felt left out from me. Then I worried that the baby would feel neglected by me. That did not happen. To this day, when she sees me, she holds out her arms to me. Dgd21mos+ is the youngest of 5. From the moment that you could see that she was aware of being the baby, you could also see her trying to overcome that and be a big person. She taught her own self to walk. The girls play great together. I consider them to be my bonus grandbabies, because I thought at 5, that was it. Then dd2 divorced and when she remarried he had never had children, so they quickly had 2.

Ivy, I agree with helia, I too enjoy your chatty posts.

lucylee, we all knew that you would be a great grandma. I love to hear about your dgs.

Well any other comments I had planned to make, have done left the building.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Lots to answer to Ivy:

Kathryn, I don't know what kettles are, which you're descaling.

These were electric kettles for boiling water. We live in the country and the well water at the church (actually all around here) is high in minerals (very hard) and scale forms on the elements in the kettle. With my old-fashioned electric kettle, you couldn't see inside so you didn't know it was happening but the new style have a lid that opens up completely and you can see how awful it is inside. Eventually, the scale breaks off and gets poured into the tea pot along with the water, making gross tea.

I fill the kettles with vinegar, let them soak for 3 - 4 hours and the vinegar dissolves all the crud and leaves the elements shiny once more. I even save the vinegar to reuse (since I do this with my own kettle.)

My before shots didn't get saved to the camera chip for some reason. So I don't have amazing pictures to post. Sigh...

Also, Kathryn, I notice how you write a lot of sermons. Are you an Anglican Priest in Canada? Do you do a sermon every Sunday or are you writing Sermons for your DH? We're Episcopalian and have a female priest. I think it's wonderful to see a female priest or pastor (from other denominations).

I'm United Church of Canada (pretty closed to United Methodist in southern US) and am lay pulpit supply so I'm hired to fill in for ministers when they are away. There's a minister away for 4 weeks and I just got 3 of the 4 weeks. Most of the time I only work a week or two in a row. My goal is to work 10 Sundays a year, but realistically, only work 4 - 5. My own congregation won't hire me (they are too cheap) so I have to hope other congregations will do so.

My volunteering at Presbytery (the local area 'governing body' for our denomination) gives me a chance to get to know other ministers, and hopefully network for more work. So that's why I put the effort into that.

I've never heard of a "Daniel Fast". Is it a Biblical fast, honoring Daniel? I hope I'm not embarrassing myself, but it sounds like that to me.

I hadn't heard of it either so looked it up. It is based on this verse: “In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three full weeks. I ate no pleasant food, no meat or wine came into my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.” Daniel 10:2, 3

When Ash Wednesday comes here to the Village, do Villagers share their Lent things they are adding or are giving up for Lent? Is it listed on the J & C thread? Or do you have a special Lent thread?

Very good question. I wondered about a special Lent thread just today. I don't think we've done it in the past (too lazy to go look) but it might be a good idea. When Lent comes, feel free to start one over in Joys and Concerns and one of the mods will make it a "sticky" so it will stay up at the top of that section. Then, if people are interested, they can post there.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Sigh. I feel like today was a wipe out. Probably because of all the worry/thought cycles I gave to dh's appointment. This was with the neurologist to raise our concerns about his confusion. So it was depressing to prepare for it. The outcome is that he'll go for baseline neurological testing (memory, problem solving, etc.) She doesn't think it is anything. I do so that part was really upsetting for me. I think it is age appropriate (55) to take the sauce out of the cupboard, go get the thing to put the sauce on, then go back to the cupboard looking for the sauce. I don't think it is age appropriate to spend 10 minutes searching the cupboard, call out to me to ask where it is, then finally have me come to show him (since I insisted it was in the cupboard) and have me show him it was beside the cupboard on the counter.

He's better than he was before Christmas so maybe extra sleep is helping (I started it the first week of Jan and he just stopped doing it.) I just hope I can convince him to either go to bed earlier or sleep in later. I know it makes a difference in me and I'm getting overtired again now that he's insisting on getting up at 6:30. The doctor made no comment one way or the other about sleep even when I said it was the only thing that had changed since December. She thought it was either stress or depression. Stress doesn't make sense (neither of us can see anything he'd be stressed over) and depression is also not likely, although harder to pinpoint (since it is a chemical imbalance.)

I went to bed for 90 minutes this afternoon so aside from getting the garbage out, haven't done anything else since getting home. Dh just washed up the dishes for me.

I'll draw up a plan for tomorrow and then head to bed. Even if I don't sleep (I'm currently not tired) it will be good to lie in bed for a bit.

Big storm hitting tomorrow. Maybe. Dh ran out and got milk tonight because we both forgot to get it today when we were out. (That's age appropriate.)

[Harmony]

I went through a short period of time when I thought I had to read all the old writers and the classics I had never read...because after all I am getting older... so I read some Dickens (Great Expectations I liked best of his) The Haunted man, The Chimes (my note in my reading journal says "..did not make a lot of sense"), A Christmas Carol, to which I decided I liked the movie better! Then I read N. Hawthorne (house of 7 Gables, Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy, Uncle Tom's Cabin ( Stowe), Walden (Thoreau)The Warden (Anthony Trollope).

I was so done with old, heavy literature that my next books came from the young adult section! Right now I'm reading Janette Oke again. I love her stories. You've probably seen a lot of them as Hall mark movies.

Church prayer meeting was nice tonight. Nice time and after we had fruit & cake & stuff with a chocolate fountain. Now it's back to my Bible studies. We're all doing the 40 days thing and I'm not a fan of his or his church, but I'm going along because DH wanted to do it. I like the Beth Moore one our Thurs. group is doing. I signed up for one before I knew DH had gotten us involved in the other. Oh well, it won't hurt us.

Hope nobody gets snowed in. We prayed for our minister's son tonight, he has an important interview tomorrow and will be traveling in the storm, expecting 24 inches. Yikes!

Have a nice night everybody.

[lucylee]

Finally back home...

We visited dmil -- and I kept falling asleep in the chair while she & dh talked...
Wmart for printer ink
Supper
Dparents' house, checked mail, talked to dparents on phone * their home phone -- NOT my cell phone! *
Installed new ink cartridges
Printed C V S coupon & AU newsletter for dh
Load of laundry in (need to go flip-flop, put 2nd load in)
Ready for BED.

(((Kathryn))) Hope Ken's tests give you good news!

Hooray for more $$, Elizabeth!!!

Ditto -- enjoying "chatty posts," Ivy! Sometimes I am EXTREMELY chatty... I know y'all think I'm actually trying to write my novel here in the posting window, LOL!!! But lately... not so much, I don't think. Seems like time has really been scarce around here lately.

Lilac -- that is so sweet of you -- to say I would be a great grandma. Thank you so much. Y'all have always had so much more confidence in me than I have had in myself. I really, REALLY appreciate all the reassurance y'all have given me for sooo many years now. I don't know if I'm a "great" grandma yet... but dgs seems happy most of the time he's with us, so maybe we're doing okay.

WTG w/the cleaning. I'm always nervous about cleanings, ESPECIALLY if there is a new hygenist. The dentist makes me nervous in general... but I have seen my dentist since I was about 5 years old, so I'm very comfortable with him -- it's just the fear of what might have to be done, you know? And I absolutely cannot STAND the sound of the drill. Oh my goodness... if ONLY they could invent a silent dental drill.

And boy... I certainly can relate to your other comment:

any other comments I had planned to make, have done left the building.

Cowinkie... IKWYM about the seasickness period w/new glasses. I need to get new glasses sooo badly... and I dread it sooo much. I think it is definitely time for bifocals for me... and I know they will be a million times harder to get used to when I do take the plunge.

Lynlee -- thanks for the quotes!

"The only normal people are the ones you don't know very well.

That is VERY reassuring to me...

Helia is reminding me of how desperately I need to exercise...

Harmony -- two Bible studies would definitely be a challenge! I have already fallen waaay behind in my Read the Old Testament Through in One Year plan. I haven't given up though -- I'm still trying to catch up again!
Our church did the 40 Days of P urpose thing too, and I really enjoyed it... but I'm like you, Harmony -- I've heard too much negative about RW in the last year or so, so my feelings about him are very mixed now.

(((Dee))) Hope you feel lots better soon!

Lent. I have never really given up anything for Lent. Growing up in Baptist church, not much was said about it. Methodists recognize it much more, and I would like to be able to commemorate it more... but I've just never got myself to really make the committment. I'll think about that some more.

MT -- I know that must be very aggravating to have to re-cut those blinds. Glad the price wasn't as bad as you expected!

Well... I really MUST go do somethin with the laundry now. If I don't see y'all again... have a great night!

[Ivy]

Helia, Thanks for the info on the Daniel fast!

Kathryn, Thanks for answering all my questions! Do you use red cider vinegar or white wine vinegar for those kettle cleanings? Just curious if there is a preference. I use white vinegar in a spray bottle, about 2" tall of the vinegar and water filled to the top, to spray and mop tile floors and the wood floors. CEO, who wrote the book, "Houseworks," talks about wood floors in her book, which I didn't know, but she said standing water on wood floors is bad for the floors. So I spray, mop, and then "skate" around the room on bath towels. It's a killer thigh exercise and really wipes me out! Our floors are soft fir wood floors from our own trees in our forest, which were milled on site. The floor lumber was sent to a mill to get tongue and grooved though. AND DH uses a cleaner for floors, with a terrycloth cover on a flat mop plastic base, and he just LEAVES it to air dry. I think CEO's way it better, although, I need to admit how DH's cleaning fluid smells so pretty!

I'll look at J's & C's around Lent then. It's sad that your church won't hire YOU!

Oh, Elizabeth! That's great that you'll be getting more $$!

Lilac, It's nice to know you've felt "connected", too!

Oh, today I think my posts got so chatty because my stomach and lower intestines were in so much pain, cramping and I don't usually have that with IBS. I believe I had a lower intestinal flu, so I just chatted away, to compensate for not feeling well at all. It's embarrassing, but I got my shower and shampoo at 4 p.m. because I was so shaky and weak, I was afraid of falling in the shower. I kept drinking fluids and had protein, to re-vamp my weak feelings and when I felt better it was s2s I went!

Cowinkie, Do you have any prism in your new eyeglasses? Sometimes if they put it into your lenses you get that sea sick feeling.

Lynlee, Is Bob Marley the one who sang something like, "Don't be sad- get happy!" or something like that?

(((Harriet))), HRH is an awesome support for you! He sounds like my DH. Rare gem.

Harmony, I think that maybe Dickens might have been searching for the right words, when he wrote his quotes and got carried away with some of them.

Lucylee, That's neat, for sure, to have a little girl after so many boys. It's great that you get to doze in the recliner with your dgson, too. I was my first grson's daycare for about 2 1/2 years, then he went to a preschool daycare and then they moved. My heart was broken, I was so worried, but he thrived at the new daycare-preschool place and DD had started her new career. Time marches on and so do our grands. It's hard to let "go" sometimes.

Yes, Helia, dgd is 1 month exactly on the 8th, tomorrow! I can hardly believe it!

I'm excited about 2 things: 1- is that my new "Prevention" magazine I subscribed to with my b-day $ came and 2- The authorities told all those Grammy Awards Show women to cover it up and not be sticking out all over the place like it's some type of lingerie fashion show! It's about time!