Saturday Stuff

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

What Stuff* do you have to do today?

What Stuff can you purge?

What Stuff can you prevent from coming into your home?

*Flylady's definition of STUFF is Something That Undermines Family Fun

The more stuff we have in our lives, the less time we have to enjoy the moment since we are always sorting our stuff, moving our stuff around, storing our stuff, or working to afford a place to keep our stuff.

If you want to start the day with an enlightening laugh you can listen to George Carlin's riff on stuff. (Warning, rough language.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvgN5gCuLac

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

And for Harmony, here's Carlin's riff on lost stuff (again, bad language warning.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ySI8yxZ97I

It makes Sunny's question about whether or not she looked in the bottom of her purse quite funny.

I'm up early today because ds had to leave for his Spartan run which is about 2 hours away. It is very cold out so I worry about him running. Plus he's tired (he worked until 11 and will work until 11 tonight.) And he's running this again tomorrow. He is slightly insane (both a function of heredity and being a 25 year old male.) He's running with a friend he climbs with and giving her a drive up and back tomorrow (she's sleeping up there) so I know he'll have a good time.

I'll polish up the service today, prepare the children's story and maybe even lay out some stuff for the kids in the Sunday School room.

Got good feedback on last week's sermon so they were listening.

[DeeClutter]

Atta girl!, Kathryn.

You will have a new "normal", LucyLee and God's not finished with you yet. So proud of you taking this step. DD can't wait to get there. But then she's not rushing the years.

I got up at 6:30 with dh and have had breakfast & meds. I'm truly easing into the day. About 40 out this morning. We have all the blinds pulled to help hold in the heat. Slowly supposed to warm up for next week & of course when dh goes in the hospital it's supposed to be up to 84.

GD called her dad Thursday night (when she couldn't reach dd). Long & short of it was she wanted him to call the office at the Ranch & tell them she wasn't happy because she was on restriction for something she did. What? She thinks she can do anything (still) she wants with no consequences! Of course he didn't call. Her counselor did call dd yesterday & told her they've concluded she has issues with authority (big time), her peers & some other 'stuff'. He realized he wasn't telling dd anything she didn't already know. However, dd did tell him that gd has figured out how to put a phone app on her ipod (which they evidently think is only used for music????) & is calling her friends & using FB when out where there's internet. "REALLY?!?!" says the counselor. But dd was adamant about telling him that they need to find out "on their own". GD doesn't need to know her Mom blew her in. I'm really hoping they take it away for several weeks. Know one time dd & dsil took it away for a bit & gd was off the wall about it! Told them, "If I don't get my ipod back, you're going to see a different child!!" DD's response? "Oh, you're going to be nice?"

I had a very nice birthday yesterday -thank you all for your wonderful "happy" wishes. Now I need to get busy and be productive. Getting rid of some 'stuff' would be nice. I am piling up a G oodwill stack to put in dd's closet in her MH. We collect until we're going that way.

Have to go cash some checks at the bank for dh this morning and go to A T & T and try to lower my cell phone bill. Not using anywhere near the minutes now and I'm sure I don't need as much data for the internet either. So I can probably lower it by about $30/month.

[helia]

BELATED HAPPY BIRTHDAY WISHES TO YOU, DEAR DEE!

I hope this is a fantastic year for you.

[helia]

We feted dear son last night and had a lovely time. Dfriends S and R joined us; they are like aunt and uncle to our kids. Our family can be somewhat rowdy when altogether, so we were probably somewhat noisy - and there was lots of laughter. S and R fit right in.. . . .

I have not yet read lucylee's reflections on her retirement. . . Congratulations!! What a big step and a big opportunity in life!

What is a Spartan race, Kathryn? It sounds challenging. . . I hope ds does well and has fun!

somebody, either Dove or Lilac, wrote yesterday about their dog sitting in front of them and staring at them when s/he needed to go out. I thought that was SO cute!! As for foibles of the bell - yes, sometimes Pepper rings it when she wants attention. We put her outside anyway just to reinforce its purpose. And Maia sometimes plays with it just for fun. She did run over and ring it this morning, went out, and immediately did her business.

Thinking of our neighbor who had his accident right about now last Saturday. Dh and I did stop by the memorial service late Thursday night, and it was packed. Dh estimated there were about 1K people there. The hallway was warm b/c of all the bodies crammed into that space. We learned later the service was streamed live for people who couldn't fit in the room b/c it was full. He was a pillar of our community, and we hadn't even really known that. I heard he was an amazing caring and ultra-available doctor.

Today, there is NOTHING on my calendar except for the grad party of a friend's daughter. I'll stop by but won't stay for too long. Dd17 will likely stay the entire time; she is a friend of hers, in her small group. Other than that, I'd really like to get our yard in decent shape. Dd14 is our mower, so hopefully, she'll do that. Oh, yeah, I do need to do one run with her and dfriend, picking them up from driving practice at noon.

[Twins' Mom]

Today there's a pool party for our neighborhood - starting at 11 a.m. but I need to find out what time food is being served, cause I'm not going to stay up there all day in the sun. Today, off the top of my head:
-need to round up a dessert to take to pool
-need to call and pick up meds to dMacs, just realized that we will be out before the long weekend ends.
-figure out an appetizer to take tomorrow night when we join a group of friends for dinner
-get some groceries
-temple email to board re: event on next Friday night and some other stuff
-should also do some laundry
-plant (in pots) the herbs and geraniums that I bought the other day
-what else? Mulch yard areas?

Right now:
-meds/vitamins
-brush teeth
-out the door to bakeshop
-try to find out the schedule for the pool party - if the music starts at 11:30 I'd think the food wouldn't be too long after that?
-look at my pinterest pins for an appetizer to try

[Cowinkie]

Morning y'all...
Doggies just fed, bed made, working on coffee and breakfast. I see my footprints are really spread out so that's gonna take me a few minute this morning.

Otherwise I have a pretty open day. Thinking of my son who's still on the AP trail. It's been almost a full week since he's been able to communicate with me. Don't expect to get the "I'm ok" text till Mon. Every night I've been going out at night and talking to the full moon. Not sure if he can see the moon from the top of the mountains, but its calming to me to think he can.

I don't have much to do today, just a very short store run. I also have a graduation party to attend for a student that I taught. He is Hispanic and this will be a different type of party that I am accustomed to. I know his parents and am looking forward to this afternoon. Later I plan to join Sweetie at a local car show.

Way to go Lucylee. If you're like I was you won't feel much different during the summer until aug comes and everyone else gets ready for school and you don't. For me the realization that I had retired came when iwas in Wally World and they were stocking school supplies. Kept feeling I needed to buy stuff but knew I didn't. After 30 years...10 for my son. And 20 for me it was weird. This summer will just feel like a normal one to you till then, or that's my guess.

Mama bird seems happy with the rain... She's still in her nest

[Harriet]

Sunny said

... we're going to concentrate on a better diet for now. Maybe we can get the numbers down again.

Sunny, tell dh that It's working for HRH's A1C. His dr gave him that "better watch it" speech, too. He brought it down enough with diet that the dr dropped the point, but is still suspicious for next time. He'll be blown away, I predict, since not only has HRH kept up the better diet but he's lost more weight, too. He dropped any sweetened drink, of course, and all but the rarest dessert. He's found he really likes his own unsweetened tea as a go-to drink whenever he doesn't have water, also has favorites of the ready-made teas at the store, and knows what restaurants locally make it well. One thing he's started recently that might not impress your dh much is trying vegan eating at most meals. It's something he's thought of doing for a long time for several health reasons, including blood sugar.

Kathryn, I sent along the ukulele video to HRH and dd.

lucylee, the quote/response BookSaver suggested sounds very smart. It is quite true that you have a recently widowed mother and you and she have a lot to think about.

BookSaver, gee I hope you get a break in the weather sometime this weekend.

It's pretty weather here. Yesterday dd was pressed into service designing and drawing the word "algebra" as sidewalk-chalk art across the school quad with each letter a symbol that had to do with algebra - hard to find. Some of her choices weren't quite valid, I didn't think - some maybe from other maths. But she managed it and got the attention/teasing that the math teacher hoped she would. He let one other student help, and he was a fast worker who helped finish quickly. Lots of people stopped and took the time to figure out what she was drawing. Other teachers she knew teased her by calling for security because of "graffiti". LOL

HRH and dstepson took the truck in for an oil change and tire rotation and ended up buying new tires. But it's needed, I suppose. They are outside working on other projects now. Dd will be going to get her photo taken for a season pass, and then going to a friend's community pool to swim.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

It is an obstacle race. From SpartanRace.com

Why Spartan? Because the Spartans were tough as nails. Why race our obstacle course races? Because we all thrive under pressure, survival of the fittest. Our goal is simple... to get you off your couch, throw you in the mud & trails, and feed you one tough endurance event day that will be the adrenalin rush of your life.

An obstacle course race is designed to test your resilience, strength, stamina, quick decision making skills, and ability to laugh in the face of adversity. We want to own obstacle racing and our unique obstacle course trail races will demand every ounce of your strength, ingenuity, and animal instinct.

Their website opens with a motivational speaker telling the story "How Bad Do You Want It" (you can google that for the written version of the tale.)

The idea is to develop drive. It seems to be working for ds. He's got a goal, he's working hard toward that, and along the way he's working hard on challenging himself across a large number of specialties. I'm pretty impressed. The speech he gave at dfs' wedding blew me away so he's turning into this amazing person with real leadership skills and I know others see it because of the opportunities that come his way at work.

It is hard to reconcile this young man with the 10 year old who matter-of-factly told me he wanted to die. Or the 13 year old that the private school warned me would never graduate high school because of his dyslexia (which wasn't that bad but they thought it would keep him from completing the literacy exam that was required for graduation.) Or the 16 year old that was on the brink of dropping out of school and who could have been arrested under zero-tolerance rules but got a principal who was wise enough to judge character and stuff the rules.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

First load of laundry is on the line. Second is in the dryer. Third will be started in a moment and then hung up inside unless the sun finally breaks through. It cold here and very windy so iffy drying conditions outside.

I've cleaned the bathrooms, stripped the bed (will remake it with the sheets on the line) and stripped and remade the spare bed now that ds won't be using it. I've dusted upstairs so will vacuum now and try out my new wet sweeper clothes to see how they work on the floor.

The goal is to get the main floor cleaned today as well. Everything is dull around the edges because, although it is tidy, it hasn't been dusted or vacuumed or cleaned for a minimum of 3 weeks (kitchen floor is pushing 6 weeks.)