MARCHING ONWARD MONDAY

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Dinner is done. I put away one box from the living room. Not enough to make a dent in the mess so I'm off to deal with that now. I'm going to also watch the end of Elf. I started it on broadcast tv the other night and then dh was ready for bed.

[Elizabeth]

Hi everyone! I got my official layoff notice today. I have spent the day unsubscribing and rerouting my emails and going through the ones I have put aside to read later (mailing lists, not urgent stuff!). The pet sitter is coming tonight to get the keys and be shown where everything is. I found out she is now full-time employed and not going to lose her house. She only has 3 clients this Christmas. I am VERY happy she is employed. It is possible that I will need to find a different pet sitter next year, but what a GREAT reason.

I have many pages in my notebook of things I need to do. I won't take up a dozen pages listing them. Besides, you would all be seriously BORED. Suffice it to say, it will be a busy week.

Thanks for the laughs Kathryn! The dog signs were good too.

[Twins' Mom]

I've made some progress, hopefully enough that the OMM stuff won't keep me up tonight. Can't say that I have done that much, but I am hopeful that having it down will be enough to get me on it tomorrow. Have the two appts out tomorrow - am considering the rest of the day as desk day. Anything I can do to get ready for temple bd meeting will be a bonus.

I'm going to take meds, give ddogs their meds and walk them around the block, then will get into my jammies.

[lucylee]

OH MY WORD. Guess what I have done now. I told dmom we would host the Christmas gathering for extended family… all 30 of them… * sheesh * Have already confirmed w/aunts and uncle… dcousin will coordinate food as always… all I have to do is clean house and keep myself & dh calm till they all leave.
DH is grumbling and complaining – “No, they don’t need to be in the study… if we open up that room those kids will be into everything… they are going to be tearing up everything we own…” Grumble grumble grumble. (And they HAVE to be allowed into the study – there’s seating for at least 8 people in there… and kitchen/dining/den offers about 17 additional seats. Yeah – we’re still short, but we’ve always been short at dsgm’s house, too.)
I, OTOH, am having panic attacks b/c I’m forecasting duncle’s take on all the repairs that need doing around here… oh my goodness… vinyl siding needs power washing, metal door to garage needs painting, leaves need raking off patio, windows need washing, sheetrock needs repair in dining room, wallpaper needs to be stripped and redone in bathroom, toilet seat needs replacing, FLOOR probably needs replacing…floor definitely needs replacing in master bath… master bathroom and kitchen faucets need replacing… oh it just goes on and on…
AND – if I undertake to demand any of these repairs be done in the next 8 days… well… dh will just have a total come apart. He has already said if hyper-critical duncle or any of the rest of them don’t like it, they don’t have to come back.

Oh well…9 days and it will all be over. And if it’s not good, it shouldn’t be my turn for 6 more years.

Let me cuop….

[OKay]

LucyLee? Is that really you? BWTG on the Christmas gathering!

Elizabeth - never boring!!

Twins - BWTG on all you accomplished today! You are doing well crossing things off your l&st

I'm pleased with the day. There is a slew of things I didn't get to, but I did get many things done.

Healthy Habits completed = 70%
Papers processed 37
Cards completed 93

[lucylee]

Oh – and good things to tell! Dgs finally IS beginning to jabber-jabber just a little bit. He says go-go-go and na-na. I think “granny” is going to become “na-na.” Suits me fine. He also will sit for brief periods in his high chair and attempt to color with me. We are making progress!!!

Happy birthday thoughts and memories of Indiana… wonder what she’d say about my panic attack re: Christmas hosting duties.

Lynlee – I LOVED the blog w/the “strident” language!!! I even copied it and plan to print it out for dmom! She really needs to hear those thoughts, and I need to be reminded of some of it, in re: to my dealings with her.
She is MUCH better today however. Found out that the “appliance” she needs will be inserted by doctor and left in place, much like those IUD birth control devices. Once it is fitted correctly, she should be unaware that she even has it. It will remain in place for 3 months and doctor will remove/check/etc. at that time. * whew * When dmom called with that news she sounded like the weight of the world had been lifted off her shoulders.

Unfortunately, dmom feels so much better, that although she thinks this weekend is too close to Christmas to travel with us, she wanted to know if she still had an option to see G eorge S trait w/me. * sigh * I really really wanted dh to go to that concert with me. * sigh * Neither of us want to disappoint dmom if she wants to go, though. * sigh * DS says it is a long time till March; dmom will likely back out, anyway.

MUST get stocking stuffers, too…

(((HUGS))) for all the car repairs, BookSaver.

I can’t think coherently. NOOOO, Okay, it is NOT really me. Something has taken over my mouth and my brain and in my few logical moments I keep thinking WHAT AM I THINKING???

I messaged all the family and dcousinil who has never seen my house replieD -- IT'S A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE!!! LOL!!!

[Lilac]

lucylee, I KNOW that dIndiana would be so proud of you, as I am, too. If super critical duncle says anything about your house, you can tell him that he is welcome to fix it for you. Everything will be fine and it will be a wonderful holiday celebration.

[Lilac]

When dh walked thru the door today, I knew he had had a bad day. He is having them run his retirement numbers based on if he retires at the end of this year, if retires at his 62nd birthday in March and if he retires at the end of 2014. He said if he will lose a lot of money by waiting, he will retire sooner. I pick my battles and I told him I wouldn't fight him on this but I wanted his promise that he would give up the idea of moving. He had been looking at homes in Colorado and the Ozarks. Sometimes the internet isn't good. I know that a lot of people live far away from their dgrandkids but my grandkids haven't, except for the 9 years dd2 lived away. We were always close to dgd17 and the boys were 2 years 5 months and 8 months old when they moved back 7+ years ago. I just do not want to give up my time with my dds and their kids. Period. We moved away from everyone almost 35 years ago and I do not want to do it again. I told him then that I could live anywhere as long as I had him and the girls. Nothing has changed, we just have more people to love.

I really didn't need this extra stress at Christmas but it is what it is.

Elizabeth, I am praying that you get a wonderful new job to start the new year out with.

[Nancy]

Dinner is done, I have rinsed the dishes and they are ready to load on the dishwasher. I still need to check on the last load of laundry. I did some knitting today yea! Got the eggs boiled and peeled today.

Thinking of tomorrows plans. I will have dgd here and we can bake up cookie dough we mixed up last week. It is trash day tomorrow I have dumped the trash. I think we will try to make up a fruit crisp.

[lucylee]

(((Lilac))) I can imagine how stressful that is, if dh is still talking moving. Hmmm -- maybe this is something dd has inherited from him? But maybe -- especially with the stress dd is under right now -- maybe dh will relax about that a little bit and feel more inclined to stay put. I feel the same way. I would never want to live away from ds/ddil/dgs.
(Although I did tell my dbro if this Christmas thing doesn't go well, I must just go to CA and stay there, become a beach bum, far far away from EVERYONE I know.)

Re: duncle -- I want to tell y'all more in MO...