Two steps forward Thursday....

[bittersweet]

LOL Elizabeth...my boss never seems too thrilled when I mention the idea of an afternoon siesta, either! Luckily, I'm on day 3 of 4 off, and got to sleep in until 10am today! I was surprised that I slept so late, even though it was 12:30am when I went to bed. Since I somehow volunteered to watch DGS for a couple of hours this afternoon while DD and DGD go to their last mommy's group, I guess I'd better get some things done around here. Dchiweenie has been let out (Miss Sniffany couldn't be bothered to roust herself from the warm bed), dkitties have been fed, and I'm halfway through my first cup of coffee. I'm sort of looking around here with a frantic "OMG there's so much to do where do I even start?!?! kind of feeling, but I have to pick a corner and start nibbling the elephant somehow somewhere!

My overall plan for today is:

- work on picking up dog bombs in the back yard (not exactly ideal weather, but the warm temps have exposed a lot of it, and it looks a right mess! )
- housework (with a focus on the living/dining rooms and bathroom, with a minor focus on the basement and MBR)
- sewing kittycat pads
- spend time with DGS


My first round will be:

- downstairs litter boxes
- eat breakfast/take meds
- vacuum living room
- put away clean dishes
- put/throw away 10 things from dining room table

Alrighty....plans in place...off I go!

Bon voyage, Kathryn & Ken!!!

[Emptynester]

Cookies are done and approved by Pastor and DH. I used a brown sugar pecan cookie recipe and substituted peanut brittle dust for the pecans. Turned out yummy.

Dishes are done (need to have dry ones put away)

Foot steps are erased

Need to vacuum

Need to fold clean clothes

DH is off to grocery store - will need to make weenies in BBQ sauce when he gets back.

Then make myself beautiful and it will be Happy Hour.

Off to fold clothes - hate that job.

[Sunny]

Hi, everyone! I am posting without cuop for now. I haven't had the computer turned on for several days, so I have 3 or 4 days to catch up on.

Dh is doing fine on his own so I finally took the time to get some sewing done on dgd14's quilt. I have the last border quilted and the binding sewed on and pinned to the back. All I have left is to handstitch it down. I must make a label and I'm thinking of making a few yo yo flowers to decorate it.

Along with the sewing I have had some "tummy troubles", but I think it's something I ate. I don't feel sick, just have to make numerous trips down the hall!

I need to finish my weekly chores between now and Friday morning. We have having a small dinner party Friday afternoon. Dfam#2 and my dcousin and dh will be here. I invited dcousin and dh invited ds/family. He answered the phone as it woke him from a sound sleep and he thought he was talking to my cousin and said "We'll see you Friday at supper"! Of course ds said - Ok! Anyway, it'll be all right!

Just a couple of things I noticed on the way to reply page: Congratulations to Lucy, ds & ddil on having a dgson! DHarriet, dd13 & family, so sorry to hear about DOrphan Cat. I know it makes us sad when our furbabies are sick! ((Hugs))!

I'm going to finish my lunch (a small dish of plain rice) and a cup of tea and cuop for a little while, before getting back to weeklies.

[helia]

Congratulations to lucylee and family! That is so exciting!

I've never heard of peanut brittle dust, but I am intrigued, MT.

Last night, a dfriend (the one I used to meet with weekly for lunch) spontaneously came to spend the night. She called a little before 10 pm and was not doing well and didn't want to be alone. I had told her to call us whenever she needed to. We had tea, and dh and I chatted with her until midnight. Dh is very good at that sort of thing. I was getting pretty tired around 11:30, so my conversational input was fading fast by then. . . . But then, I had to work on prep for the moms group panel this morning - b/c I hadn't taken the time I had yesterday afternoon to do that. I was in bed at 1 a.m. and up again at 6:30 to finish prep, but all went well at moms group this a.m., and dfriend left early this a.m. to go to work. She emailed me from work and it sounds like she is doing OK. . . .

So, I've had some lunch - and allowed myself 50 minutes to watch a Downton Abbey episode while eating lunch. Now, I need to turn my attention to the house. Our contractor will be by in about 30 minutes to pick up a down payment for the bathroom remodeling job and I need to get that check written and transfer some $$ into checking to cover it.

Later today, I need to pick up dd13 from synchro. swimming at 4, take her to her oboe lesson at 4:45. Thursday dinner has been cancelled tonight, except I have re-invited 2 of the 4 who may be around: dfriend R (I thought he was out of town with dfriend S tonight, but apparently he is in town) and the dfriend who slept over last night. I don't know what is happening with my book club's movie outing tonight; there have been no emails or specific plans made. A quiet evening at home sounds great to me! Dh and I went out for coffee last night while the girls were at youth group.

Dh is leaving for a short 3 day trip to California this afternoon. I won't see him before he leaves. I may indulge in a chick flick or something tonight or tomorrow night.

[OKay]

~~~~waving Hi to all~~~~~

I had a good trip to visit DGS5 and arrived back in our area with about 10 minutes to spare before DGS14 got out of school (I picked him up from school). Last night with older DGS's was a good time together. I also squeezed in a trip to check up on DParents and was very happy to see them doing so well (considering the physical challenges they have).

This morning I have been hyper focusing on paperwork and was able to work my way through MOUNDS of it. I am almost caught up!!!! I am fairly sure all of 2011 tax related papers have been processed and now will turn my focus to reviewing the tax related spreadsheets and making sure everything is showing in the correct category. I'm so excited to have progressed this far that I have to pinch myself to make sure this isn't a dream.

CONGRATULATIONS to Grandmother LucyLee and family on having a healthy pregnancy and baby boy!!!

[Emptynester]

For Helia and anyone else that is curious:

Peanut brittle dust. We made an double batch of peanut brittle at Christmas but only had one pan to cool it in so it was very thick. When we broke it into pieces - there were lots of crumbs/dust from breaking it. It was so good that I couldn't bear to throw the almost a full cup of dust away so saved it to make cookies with. So that is the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey used to say.

Cocktail hot dogs are in crock pot with BBQ sauce. Grapes washed and on a tray in fridge. All that is left is to vacuum and sweep the kitchen floor. DH is sweeping out garage where most of the party will be held.

[Nancy]

I've been on a walk w/ dgd.
H. is back from his errands.
Story time is done.
I & dgd had lunch dishes have been rinsed and loaded.

Did any one see Am. Idol where the gal fell off the stage, she looked like she was weak in the knees, tripped on her high heels, drunk or fainted what a bummer won't know until the next show.

[Indiana]

Phsyically good mentaly not so good.

[Lilac]

I feel the same way Indiana and it's not fun.

[Harriet]

((Indiana)) I think you have an entirely excellent mental. I hope you feel bright and chipper soon. ~~~~Happy thoughts~~~~

My nerves are about shot today. HRH's friend is back - a surprise because I thought he was coming tomorrow. The two men have decided to do some work on computers and so there is a lot of up-and-down the stairs and they have taken one out onto the front porch to work on something. My ddad doesn't remember the friend from the other day, and is responding very badly to this, having a lot of recurring suspicion. It's taking a lot for us (sometimes me, sometimes dd) to keep him calm. I wish HRH would just take his friend out to eat or something so I could calm the house down.

helia, dd got 50 out of a possible 50 points on her eggshell project. Several people were complimentary. No ribbon, but there were 350 entries, so I'm super happy for her and do tell your dd we think it turned out to be a bright project. Her title was, "Which Eggshell Would You Trust?", which caused some double-takes, with photos of satisfyingly yucky broken eggs, lol. Several other students told her they have chickens, too, and she would never have known that otherwise.

She is invited to the honor roll after-school party, but doesn't want to go. She says none of her friends' parents are letting them attend because they don't like that it has been changed to an after-school "dance". They are allowing them to go to the Valentine's party during school hours instead, and just pay the fee that costs for refreshments. I'm disappointed that the only reward for meeting goals is something dd doesn't want to attend. But faced with other, more in-the-loop parents' disapproval of the activity, I can hardly insist my child go. I remember that a previous "dance" had a decibel level that chased me out of the building - perhaps that's the problem.

lucylee, I suppose it's good that we know in advance these days, or all prospective grandmothers would be daydreaming over the little-girl dresses when we have a boy coming, or vice-versa! I myself had to linger at the Kohl's Easter dresses display in the children's dept recently, and I have no reason to shop for those! I think I was wishing them back into 1998, lol.