TOTALLY TUESDAY

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

I'm plugging along here, trying to get motivated. My cousin wrote back that my uncle will be around to receive us when we got to see him. Unc's had another car accident and wrote off the car. Bought another one. (Keep in mind, he was 100.5 when this happened.) My cousin is going nuts because there's nothing to keep his Dad off the road despite 2 accidents in the past 24 months. Senior's there don't require driving tests, even after an accident (here they a road test within one year of an accident and are required to at least rewrite the test every 5 years after age 80 with the possibility of a road test if they are randomly selected.)

Dh is back from his morning out. I've eaten lunch. Making progress on the services. I have two of my sermons to pick from to rewrite and will likely do a rewrite and update rather than start fresh since I'm preaching to a congregation other than my own.

[helia]

Done:
x orthodontist
x a.m. routine is done, except for the kitchen. The girls are currently in there making baklava from scratch. No wonder I've had such a hard time losing weight this summer. There is some fresh homemade goodie here every few days. They could be using their time in a worse way, I admit.
x met with ex-child care coordinator + another leader
x met with young woman interested in helping out with child care for next year
x bought overpriced but cute baby gifts for dfriend S
x emailed band director w/ question re: how he'd like me to estimate the band's future tux shirt needs. Interesting discovery - when I crunched numbers last night, I learned that consistently (over the last 3 years) 47% of the boys wear just 2 sizes.

I'm drinking tea now and getting organized for the rest of my day. Or maybe gathering courage for 3 DPCs.

Next:
- DPC 1
- DPC 2
- DPC 3
- look at pet insurance handout; we think Pepper may be sick or something. She's been lethargic and cranky with Maia since our camping trip. Before we spend more Ks on vet bills, we'd like to get pet insurance. Do you have pet insurance Twins?
- email shower guests re: game with baby photos
- work on reading book I'm supposed to have read by teaching team meeting Th. a.m.

No, OK, I don't plan on learning Taiwanese or Chinese. It would be fun, but I don't have time. I was trained to teach only in English. The classrooms in which I practiced and taught while in grad school and beyond have always been peopled with students from many different language backgrounds, making English the only mutually comprehensible option. I do think it is very helpful to know the characteristics of the language of the student, and if it were an English as a Foreign Language situation in another country, such knowledge would be vital - for my own cultural acclimation as well. That said, I do know a few very small idiosyncrasies of the Chinese language, which is similar to Taiwanese, I believe. I also have several friends who speak Chinese and/or Taiwanese whom I can consult.

Mustering courage for DPC #1. . .

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

I'm too lazy to go through proper procedures, so am zapping both the user and their posts if something doesn't pass the sniff test. I'm not bothering with ip address lookups anymore, although after deleting the one today, I did check and saw he/it has been busy enough across the internet in the past couple of hours to have made posts on forums and been reported.

Keep on reporting any posts or users you see that don't pass your "sniff test." No need to give such people traction here.

[Lilac]

Still haven't caught up on posts, except for todays.

I have mowed the yard. The storage building had 1 1/2 inches of water standing. So I moved the majority of large items out. Then I used the floor squegee and a large outside sting mop to get the worst out. I then put down newspapers to soak up the rest. Now I have a fan trying to dry the floor. Dh won't be home until tomorrow and I know he won't want to mess with it. We need to replace the 4 ft wide door that raises. When we do, we need to put down a threshhold to keep this from happening. In the meantime, I plan to keep newspapers spread in front of the door, so they will at least absorb some of the water.

I had intended to go to the grocery store but when I got the new ad that starts tomorrow, a lot of the same items are on sale. The one item I could have saved $2.00 on, but it didn't seem worth the gas, when I can buy it the next time for the higher but still on sale price. I can sure talk myself out of going to the store, without too much trouble.

Well I am going to turn off the fan, put the items away and put the newspapers down. Then I need to take a shower. I have on sunscreen and I hate this greasy feeling, even though it claims to be "dry".

[Sadie]

Hello Dear Ladies,

Another HOT day here, but looks like it might rain.

This past weekend was tax-free weekend and there was a crowd at WM. Also our store was going to be used as a meeting place for a regional conference, expecting lots of visitors. Our manager kept going through making lists of things to do, like sign missing here, end cap is not full enough. Little things that we got done quickly and he would go around again. The meeting is today and hope the store was in top shape for it.

On the home front, I've gotten the dailies done but the weeklies are once again sliding onto the back burner. Can't quite figure out why. Think I will say it is the heat that zaps my motivation.

Got a call from Dsister-in-law in NY. Her daughter sent her a used laptop and she wants to get internet service for it soon.

That will be good as we can email then. Her daughter does facebook and she is going on that too. I don't do facebook, not enough time to mess with it plus I hear of so many problems people have from posting on it. I'll just skip it.

DH said he'll take me out for dinner, that will be nice. Dsons will be here with Dbrother so I can go out for a while.

Dee, I was wondering if you and DH would be able to go back to Florida this year with your DH's doctors being in NY. I see you might stay with one of your sons, so that question got answered for me. Hope your DH continues to improve.

Going to cuop and then go with DH to dinner.

Great day to all!

[helia]

3 DPCs done! Success! Good news on all of them. The education office in IL seems to have solved the snafu with my license, so I think that is almost resolved. I've also got a quote for pet insurance from the company the emergency vets recommended. I need to talk to dh before I buy it. In the meantime, I am asking kids to observe Pepper's eating and excreting habits to make sure she doesn't have an obstruction. She seems to be in some pain to me. . I also need to review w/dh whether or not we want renter's insurance for ds next year.

Next:
- email shower guests re: photo
- finish tidying the kitchen - except for the baklava mess, which I'll let the girls tackle
- get back to the online application, if there's time.
- out for dinner with ds

[Twins' Mom]

Helia, no pet insurance here but Macs would probably not be "insurable" with his issues, and Moses is also pretty old.

Dd and I got pedicures and then went by the grocery. I'm going to trim down my basil (which has been pretty neglected this year) and make pesto, and we will grill chicken breasts also.

Ddogs are fed. Need to make phone call to reschedule my body work.

[DeeClutter]

Thanks for the quick work, Kathryn. And to the astute observer here.

Getting ready to take dh to his Dr. this evening. Hoping he has some different ideas for this cough, etc. He's really spent tonight and hasn't done anything today. I opened the screen door for him and he was grateful for even that! Also will start a discussion tonight for a problem dh seems to be having unrelated to the heart surgery. Sure that's going to involve prostate exam, etc.

Yes, Sadie, at least we have the option of staying here. Just know that neither of us are ready for cold weather.

[Cowinkie]

Helia...
I had pet insurance on both my dogs. Actually I had it for Sadie for about 6 years. It cost me $29 a month for one dog and $60 for two. We went for many years without any major events and when I added up what I was spending verses what I was saving I decided it wasn't worth my money. Plus it was a hassle to use. In my case, and I used two different insurance companies, I had to pay up front for the vet bill. Then I would submit the bill to the insurance company and they would reimburse me for part of it. The forms were complicated...same with both companies...and not all vet would accept the insurance. Although the immunization shots were partially covered, it was still cheaper just to pay the amount outright.

The emergency vets around my area used one pet insurance company, but my vet wouldn't accept it. The emergency vets here wanted me buy their pet insurance, but it would only cover some emergency procedures. When Willis ate the bottle caps and I had to take him to the emergency vet it cost me $800.00, however while he was there the vet discovered Willis had Valley fever and also treated him for that. And there was a time when Sadie and Willis got into a fight and we thought Sadiie's eye might have been involved and that cost me $300. Still when I figured out what I had paid for those two incidents it still didn't add up to what my yearly cost for my pet insurance would be. Its always the roll of the dice. My best friend who has boxers and is a regional district manager of a very large Fla Boxer Rescue had a dog who ended up with cancer. Her pet insurance did little to help her fray the cost...because certain vets wouldn't recognize the insurance company. She dropped her coverage when her other boxer had that twisted stomach thing and needed immediate surgery. Her pet insurance didn't cover much of that as well.

You might be smarter just to earmark monthly vet monies and put it in a fund for pet emergencies. If I had it to do over again, I wouldn't use the pet insurance companies. I think its one of those consumers beware things. Pet insurance does not equal the same type of coverage as human insurance, which is how many pet companies like to advertise their product.

[Lynlee]

Report from Tuesday
dsis came to visit on her way home from visit to dm.
She had a few suggestions for my arm (she is an alt health practicioner)
We went and refueled my car. It stated 1st go after sitting for a month.
We had a nice visit.

Washed laundry - all away, and some of my backlog away.

Today. Yoga is on the agenda. I need get ready. And warm up before starting. Think what suits for moves.

I realize I hold a lot of tension in my hurt shoulder and arm most of the time.. I need to really relax it, and start over with moving it. I am thinking of the local oestiopath. Dsis reconns they know more about muscles and joints, And its tendons, muscles and stuff seem to be having the issues here.

TY Kathryn for your sniff test vigilance.
Sympathetic thoughts going to all with troublesome mid teens to deal with. Shaking my head remembering those days.

Sending hugs to all