Happy Friday

[helia]

Oh, MT, I am so glad you and Dakota have found each other. Hate to think of a dog being injured in a fire - whatever happened, but I'm SO glad she survived, was found, and now has you and Mr. MT to take care of her. Wish I could meet her in person. Well, same for all the Village critters. LOL!

Love that dh is crazy about dgs lucylee!!

x a.m. routine - except for emptying and reloading dw
x updated laundry
x lunch
x washed one wall in hallway dirty with dog dirt
x bleached tile backsplash and 1.5 counter surfaces in kitchen. I surely do not like my tile kitchen counters.

Next:
- order coffee for tomorrow night; dfriend can pick up a tote after all
- finish planning tutoring
- unload and reload dw
- wipe down front of kitchen cupboards

Fortunately, dh needs to go into work tomorrow plus he is planning to go for a run so he'll be out and about some tomorrow.

[Twins' Mom]

After giving the ddogs a nice walk this morning, I got on out of the house to let dcleaning lady do her magic. Walked through TJ Maxx, Tuesday morning and a couple of other places. Home again and s2s-ed and then off to massage, and then home again to nap a little outside on our back covered patio. Ohhhhhh, what beautiful day this is here! Still 55 degrees and too nice for words.

Then dh called and woke me up!

[OKay]

After putting LO on the school bus this morning, I picked up DAunt (on DH side of the family) and took her to the big city for doctor appt. She had a total knee replacement in 2012 that is going to have to be replaced again. *sigh* DAunt is a widow and her only child lives far away so the local extended family takes turns taking DAunt to appts. Today was my turn. After her doctor appt was over she insisted on taking me out to eat at one of my favorite places.

Helia - CONGRAT'S to you DD's! Thanks for sharing the outcome of their hard work.

Tonight we are supporting the senior class by eating pancake dinner being served at school. I hope they made passing grades in Home Ec class!

While I sat in the waiting room today I was able to input over 300 entries into the mileage log spreadsheet. Baby stepping my way through the massive amount of effort to prepare tax information.

[Nancy]

Plugging away here not with a lot of speed or intensity but forward progress is being made so I am happy about that.

[Elizabeth]

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!!

Today, I met with a new knit/crocet group at breakfast. After that, I had lunch with friends at our regular Chinese place. That is where I learned it was Chinese New Year. The had special food and desserts (free) to go with the usual fare and gave out red envelopes with lottery tickets. There were water bottles all over the place and we asked why. Well, it turns out that there should be water from the front door to the back on New Years. Water represents money and that is supposed to attract it. I decided to use my mop to spread water (and Pine Sol) from my front to back. Don't know if it will bring money, but my house looks and smells great. I have been cleaning in case my friends from FL come over tonight. I am meeting them at Dions, so they may not, but I needed to do some cleaning anyway and this was a good excuse.

I think I will work on that password list for a little while. After dinner, I must work on sewing DD11's stuffed owl. She will be here tomorrow and I don't want her to think she has been forgotten. Also need to buy a friend a birthday present. Of course, there is still cleanup that needs to be done, too.

[Lynlee]

Hugs for MT and Mr MT and Dakota finding each other at last.
A deep burn takes a long time to heal as the new makes its way, then finally skin. I don't think it will ever get hair there. And reburning of the burn on exposure to sunlight is a given. My leg that was burnt (by water not fire) reacted to sunlight for far longer than the 6 months the doc suggested. It was more like 12 mths.
I'm wondering if the smell of smoke could have come from deep in his lungs, ( sorry if this sounds too wierd) or been a psychic memory shared between you. (((dakota))) They are very intelligent dogs. They have been know to be very forward thinking in their cattle caring work, without any human prompting them to do anything.

I have continued in the fight with nothing to do with Singapore - singapore daisy, possibly aka creeping charlie. It is now just along one shared fence - and tumbled in that "garden" beneath many trees.
I'm still getting better at bedtimes. Starting each evening with making sure the dishes are washed earlier - which isn't really automatic yet.

there continues here the high cloud, sometimes a bit of a shower. the ex cyclone rain depression isn't enough to break the drought in the west.

[Harriet]

It's the end of the first month of 2014. I'm kinda happy 'cause I stuck with 15-20 minutes of formal exercise per day since I started that, about 18 days, I think. Really time to graduate to longer exercise periods and maybe days off, but I'm a little reluctant in case I would get off track. We'll see.

Elizabeth, Happy Chinese New Year, the year of the horse. By the way, the US post office has a new forever stamp in honor of this.

Speaking of holidays,
I was interested to learn the concept Groundhog Day Resolutions, an idea started on the net in 2007, by David Seah, the web blogger I've been reading lately. Anyone heard of this? The idea is basically to avoid thinking of 1/1 as the only moment of resolutions, but to get another (or first) start on 2/2, and review your goals (changing as needed, and celebrating success) all year on 3/3, 4/4, etc. Kind of a fun, tongue-in-cheek way to remember that it's you who are in charge of your resolutions and you can re-adjust them to your hopes and needs all year long. On 12/12 he suggests "resolution day" for a final review and pat on the back, and then forgiving yourself for being so busy at the end of the year.

Twins' Mom, what a tough day. It's hard work but somebody has to do it. How long do you have on your alone-time now? So healthy.

Good job having nothing to do with nothing to do with Singapore, Lynlee. You are fighting the good fight.

Nancy and lucylee are talking about their chats (with blessed, too) in Basic Weekly Plan thread, btw.

Ivy must not have gotten her computer back today after all. I think she was already beginning to wonder if that was going to happen. She sent a poem for H and F forum.

I'm getting excited for helia's family. (surprise!) shhhhh....

[lucylee]

Ooohhh -- I like that 2/2, 3/3 idea, Harriet. I'm struggling w/exercise, but doing some better this week.

Also thinking again that it IS time to toss ALL old journals. Then thinking, nahhh... I've got happy stuff in there about ds's music accomplishments, etc... maybe I should keep them... need to go through and cull anything I think might be embarrassing after my death... * sigh * I KNOW... this is so CRAZY. My head just keeps spinning about THAT topic, whenever I think about the master bathroom, or whenever I give it a rest from other obsessions. That's what I should be doing during master bathroom focus week -- that's where they are stored -- but ooohhh... I just KEEP putting it off.

Today was soooo busy.
* Post Office
* CVS
* Other drug store
* Oil change
* Dmom's
* Dmil's
* Supper

DGS is kinda fussing a bit in his playpen now, but I have chased him all I can bear for one day. No problem w/the errands -- only had to get out of car @ post office & CVS, and he was happy to walk with me, help carry the mail, ride in the buggy... but then, oh me, chasing around at dmom's... chasing around at dmil's (w/dh's help, thankfully)... and I'm pooped! He's mad -- twice I offered him juice and twice he threw his cup out of the playpen.

DS/DDIl will probably not be in until after midnight, and dh is beginning to say trip back to college town tomorrow might be a bit much... have to admit, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we stay home, LOL.

Dmom said she goes back to the doctor Monday re: bladder surgery possibility. Oh me... I told her to ask about recovery time, what to expect, how long she would need me 24/7... this all just makes me sooo nervous. And of course, I'm not even the one having surgery. Guess I should think about THAT, right?

Need to cuop better -- y'all please forgive me -- I feel I've been awfully self-centered lately.

Sending good wishes to Ivy to return soon...

And sooo happy to hear about Dakota's rescue, MT! I mean, it is wonderful that y'all rescued him from the shelter to begin with, but if he really has survived such a terrible fire -- he is obviously a miracle dog, and you two will be a miracle to him!

Starting each evening with making sure the dishes are washed earlier - which isn't really automatic yet.

Me, too, Lynlee, me too. Usually I don't have dirty dishes at night, but w/dgs here, yes -- I do -- and it is definitely not automatic to do the kitchen duty.

Happy Chinese New Year to all!!!

OKay, you just continue to amaze me... besides LO and the MPB and your dgsons... and now dd/dgd back in the picture... and your dmom... and now dh's aunt... * whew * And here I am, terrified of what dmom duty may involve for myself...

WTG, Helia's dd's!!!

Beautiful day here, too, Twins! Such a relief after all those freezings temps.

This is as far as I can see in Topic Review. Y'all just bear with me. I really AM trying to Get My Act Together.

[Nancy]

Re: resolutions I am doing good on water intake so it is time to consider new ones I've put a goal app. On my tablet it is basically a calender. I disabled the send email reminder function. As I was getting too many to find in my cork board and I have some aff. & verses I am working with.

I am enjoying crochet & knitting how tos on Utube they would be great if you had a group.

[helia]

Yes, Taiwanese student told me that today is Chinese New Year. I thought tomorrow was. He is participating in a New Year program tomorrow. I would go if it weren't for the party.

I'd be more excited if I had gotten more done. Not much besides kitchen counters and cupboard doors and 1 wall and ordering coffee. Nobody could even tell I had scrubbed the kitchen tile grout and cupboard doors. I'm not sure whether to feel pleased that maybe they weren't as bad as I thought or disgruntled b/c no one noticed. . . . When I think about tomorrow, I DO feel excited, regardless of the state of the house!! TONS to get done tomorrow. Dh will be leaving in about an hour to pick up GG from a dance. I'll maybe get a bathroom cleaned while he's out.

I did a boomerang imitation today - away from the house, back to the house. Away, back. Repeat several times. Was out of the house at 2:30: tutoring, stopping by home to pick up dd15, taking dd15 to the synchro meet, picking up sandwich tray, taking it to the high school. Then, home finally at 5:30. Then, dh and I went out for dinner 6 - 7:30. Home for maybe 35 minutes. Then, I drove GG to the high school dance at about 8:20. Home for maybe 50 minutes. Then, dh and I together picked up dd15 from the meet at 9:20. Now I'm home for the rest of the evening. Dh will do the final pick up of GG.

In the meantime, our house is turning into grand central station. Dd18 went out to dinner with one set of friends and now has a different friend sleeping over. Dd15 has invited the ENTIRE synchro team over tomorrow morning to "deck," which means practicing their routines on dry land. There are just 11 girls on the team. Still. . . I think I'll just give up on the idea of having a quiet empty house to work on. *sigh*