SUNDAY SUNSHINY DAY

[Twins' Mom]

I didn't get outside to work in the yard but did start back on our tax returns. I got ours mostly done, with a handful of questions left to resolve. Went ahead and did kids returns and efiled ds' but didn't file dd's. I forgot that dh might want to set up a Roth IRA for them, so need to discuss, I guess.

Going to give myself a 45 min nap.

[Harriet]

I'll post without CUOP since this is my first chance here and it's 6:30.

Church today. Very nice. Talks with those I needed, about practical, community and fellowship things. Pastor's messages are better these days - a clear path from A to B with understanding, rather than meandering thought, or expecting us to "get" that the message hinges on previous or upcoming message.

Quick lunch and right back out to a volleyball tournament a 45-minute drive away. Difficult to decide whether to stay but I did. There were times I tried to brave the weather and watch - saw one of dd's matches. Otherwise, I holed up in the car listening to the howl of the wind and reading.

But this is NOT the spring anyone wants. Yes, temp is okay, 62, but the tornado weather Sunny was talking about seemed to be hitting us (well, not that bad) and it was just miserably windy. The dogs that were being walked had their fur blown back. The trees were bending with howling wind. Yet all the girls played on valiantly and laughed (ah, youth). If the balls were caught just-so by the wind they would be across the driveway of the park.

I was able to assess dd's practice needs - her serve is not powerful enough and she is not judging her opponents well. We will work on those. They didn't win, but they had a good showing. Uniforms looked good.

Call to HRH let us know what he needed to prepare supper, so we picked that up on the way.

Long day.

[Nancy]

I have finished socks h. Is wearing them now.
Sigh house is a disaster zone.
Where is the calgon when you need it.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Interesting dinner. Nice visit with bosom buddy and her dh first. Then to the dinner. This was in my market town a 15 minute drive from here (it has the major stores so when I only need a few of the major chain stores, I go there; if I face the possibility of needing a wide variety of stores I drive into the city; if I only need a few items I drive to the neighbouring villages 5 & 8 minutes away.)

Much to my surprise, there were 6 of my parishioners there and 2 more from a neighbouring church where I've preached. And 2 of them were my toughest congregants, malcontents who I will be dealing with in the upcoming months (actually, I had a run in with them this morning.) But it was still a pleasant meal and visit with them and they told me how much they enjoy me as a preacher. God is full of surprises!

I have a huge pastoral care list for this week. One adult son's cancer has come back, another is having eye surgery, a third is having a major heart dye test, plus a new baby and another baby due (thank heavens for some good pastoral care issues) and the regular load. No wonder I'm completely exhausted at the moment.

I have a load of laundry on (jeans we'll need for tomorrow) and when it is in the dryer, I'm off to bed. Dh plans to stay up late to try and finish something tonight for Europe. If it works, he'll be around to help with packing tomorrow.

[Harriet]

This evening I thought about a conversation I had with a friend at church, and began to take it more seriously. He'd had a chance meeting at grocery store with my dear uncle neighbor who recently was widowed, and a few things said concerned him. At first I thought nothing of it, but I decided to call dear aunt-of-the-daily aprons, who mentioned nothing wrong with her brother. HRH was still not satisfied and insisted I go "drop in" and visit. So dd and I took a bag of pears over to him as a little gift and a half-reason to drop in. Everything seems fine. I am not often invited to help him, and I can't make him change that, so I can only look in on him, really.

On the way home, noticed the daffodils are blooming at my ddad's homeplace (grandparents' house) so I plucked one of those and have pressed it.

My reading in the car today was finishing up Grain Brain through the recipes, lifestyle recommendations, and the discussion of time-line for moving further away from grains, sugars, vegetable oils. He recommends a lot of fast or even cold-turkey changes, but also some gradual ones.

[lucylee]

I am not often invited to help him, and I can't make him change that, so I can only look in on him, really.

That is often the situation with my dmom and me, Harriet. * sigh *
Asked her again yesterday if I could help get some of those papers filed and she again said, "No, I can get that done pretty quickly if I can just get a day when I halfway feel like doing anything!"
* more sighs *
She spent the afternoon while I was there lying on the couch.

[OKay]

I soooooo needed a day like this. I am glad to put family drama out of my head and just have some good times.

My day cleft notes -
** up early to prepare finger food for church luncheon.
** Kept little kids nursery during church. Another lady and I share the challenge of caring for 5 one year olds plus a 5 year old down syndrome boy that has the mind of a one year old. He is SUCH a sweetie, but has to be closely watched every second. He thinks and acts like a one year old but he is so big and strong that when he pushes the little ones they go flying.
** Worked in the background during church meal doing endless tasks like putting out more food, refilling utensils, drinks, etc. Then another lady and I did 90% of the clean up.
It was fairly quick and easy since there was no dishes to wash. Within 30 minutes we had most of it done.
** Brought DH and LO home then headed out to meet DGS16
** We went to watch Divergent movie (VERY good - would definitely recommend it) then ate Chinese while DGS talked
** Met about 10 of my friends from high school (we graduated together 40+ year ago!) and we talked NON-stop for over 4 hours. Our big meeting is next Saturday but a few couldn't attend on that date so we meet for a meal tonight. It is strange....some of us have not talked in 40 years but we connected instantly and resumed our friendship as if someone had just hit the pause button. Weird.....but wonderful!


LO first tooth to lose is hanging on......and on. The tooth has been about to fall out for a week. I don't remember this being such a long experience with my children 30ish years ago. I do remember when I was a child we would tie a string around the tooth and the other end of the string on the door knob....then slam the door to yank the tooth out. I'm too squeamish to do that now. How did I get so wimpy?

[Elizabeth]

Good evening everyone! DD12 and I did enjoy Saturday's play, but it went quite late. Both of us needed Benadryl after we got home and we got up rather late and missed Sunday school. We would have made church on time, but dFosterCat Ripley escaped into the garage and we could not open the garage door until she was returned to the house. (This was done by 'catfishing', where a string is dragged around to entice the cat to play until string and cat are in the house). Chinese lunch of course! Then, DD and I played badminton. She won because often the wind was so strong that my serves and hits ended up behind me! Then, she cut branches from a dead tree and made a lance, a gun, and some dynamite, while I did a mass of weeding. Then, it was snack time and she wanted to watch youtube videos. The videos kept stalling and she ended up kicking the (small and fragile) computer table, so she lost her computer privileges for the day. She stalked off to her room, where she actually napped until it was time to go. I did some cleanup while she slept.

After taking her home, I took care of that 'quart low' feeling and vacuumed the front seat part of the car. This is so I don't get lint and cat hair tomorrow on my interview clothes. I got some more info on the job and checked email.

I still need to: gather some things for tomorrow's interview, eat dinner, cat care, me care.

Thank you everyone who has sent good wishes for the interview. I am told it will be several weeks before I know anything though.

I do remember when I was a child we would tie a string around the tooth and the other end of the string on the door knob....then slam the door to yank the tooth out.

I tried that once and was left with a tooth that didn't move and several feet of broken string hanging out of my mouth! Had the devil of a time removing that string too!

[Ivy]

About kids and loose teeth..... When I was a kid, I bit into an apple, and out came my tooth, into the apple, and slick and as painless as can be!

So an apple might work!