SATURDAY SUCCESS

[lucylee]

Hmmm... not much success here so far, but I did get the sheets in the washer! That's one good thing...

And I'm kinda thinking, until this dmil's house is cleaned and possessions sorted, if I spend 3 hours over there, I should definitely consider that a success and not feel I'm "slacking" b/c I haven't vacuumed my own house or something, you know?

Thinking about what Twins said about the last three years... yes, yes. In the last three years here,
* my dad passed away
* both dh's parents passed away
* and in addition, dh and I both lost first-cousins and he lost an aunt and an uncle
* dsisil left dbil
* dgs was born
* I retired after 30 years in the same job (and 40 years associated w/that school, beginning w/my 7th grade year!)
* dmom had foot surgery, requiring multiple trips to Nashville w/me driving her, and she has definitely revealed personality traits that concern me...
* I hosted my first ever Thanksgiving AND Christmas dinners

*** Wow! *** I guess we DO deserve to slow down a bit, don't we, Twins?

My dmom definitely had the problem of living w/a workaholic who wanted everyone else working all the time, too. I sometimes wish dh was a TINY bit more like that, but OTOH, I am REALLY, REALLY glad he is not exactly like that!!! It is so nice to have someone who understands when you just need to do NOTHING.

Sooo glad you've got AC, LadyM!!! After my stint yesterday in the 80 degree temps, it felt sooo wonderful to walk back into our house. * happy sigh of relief *

Hope you get the internet issues resolved quickly, Nancy. That is one of the most frustrating things in the world!

Harriet, I'm so glad you enjoyed your mini-reunion. That is what my dmom and her friends should do, since they all seem to be missing the whole-class reunions they have. I love the Cheer-wine idea! And -- oh my goodness -- your classmate's story re: her stepsister's dream makes our little estate issues seem like a day in the park! How terrible. I'm wondering what sort of family dynamics led to the step-child being named executor, and if there were already some resentful feelings going on... and then this wild dream just escalated everything... but oh my... yes... there is ALWAYS something to be thankful for.

Currently, I'm hoping I talk to dbil before he goes to the house, b/c I want to prepare him for all the boxes and all the cabinet doors being left open. Did I mention this yesterday? I left all the cabinet doors & drawers open, b/c there is a VERY musty/shut-up house smell in the cabinets. The antique lady told me to get some deodorizers at Dollar General and to keep the house at 78%. I am also thinking when we pull up the old shelf paper and empty EVERYTHING out, maybe that will help. Do y'all have any other suggestions?
Ddil is not going to be really pleased if she learns about something else -- 2 dead mice on sticky trap in lower cabinet (where I had found 1 dead mouse before) and some sort of tiny black bugs... LOTS of them, dead, in another cabinet. HOWEVER -- dmil NEVER allowed pest control to spray INSIDE the house. She just had some sort of phobia about those chemicals indoors. I am thinking we should get everything emptied out that is going to be emptied out, clean everything, then have pest control come and spray very well -- BEFORE ds/ddil start moving anything in.
ALSO -- BIG SCARY PROBLEM -- we cannot find any sort of termite contract that dmil kept current... we are scared to death we are going to have a termite inspection and find out we have real problems there.
Oh well... what will be, will be.

FF -- ooohhh -- I feel your pain... so glad to know I am not alone in this battle of the male toilet.

Kathryn, I think you are doing GREAT!

I would probably like that book, too, MT...
Oh -- but after my little fiasco w/sharing the slob comes clean website, I have definitely re-thought my earlier idea to give Flylady's book as a housewarming gift to ds/ddil! Yep... that probably wouldn't be smart.

LOVE the story about dgs and his disappointment that church was not Disney World, Dee. Bless his heart. (((HUGS))) for dgs...

DGS here still not talking in sentences like that, but he is definitely communicating very well w/us, so I think the verbal stuff will come. I'm much calmer about that now. He is so funny sometimes, and it sooo much fun to watch him learn new things. It's like every time we see him, he has something new he's doing, and we are just loving it. Of course, I'm also loving that this weekend, I'm "off-duty" too. DS is playing at a local festival just an hour or so away, but ddil and dgs stayed home last night and today, b/c she was tired and just wanted to stay home and rest. But it's nice that she apparently thinks she can "rest" and take care of dgs, too!

Must s2s and go to CVS... put sheets in dryer... and wash another load. That would make 5x5 -- if I can do it all by 5:00 p.m.! BBL!!!

[DeeClutter]

DGS here still not talking in sentences like that,

But your dgs is right where he should be, LucyLee. Please remember that this dgs2 of ours is very far ahead of his development curve. And he has lots of attention from not only his parents and others, but 2 teenage siblings, whom he absolutely thinks walk on water. And we've often thought he (somewhere in there) tries to make up for the child they lost in 2011. Now we'll see how he does in 3 years when he reaches school

[Twins' Mom]

Yes, Lucylee, we can cut ourselves some slack!

I ended up not getting to the Y today - my legs are sore from Thursday and I just wanted a day off. I napped a little and then dd called that she needed us to pick her up. She parked where she shouldn't have, and was towed. Needed $200 cash and a ride to p/y her car. You can probably imagine dh's reaction.

We will need to leave here around 8 p.m. for this thing tonight. Between now and then, we will have dinner (lasagne from freezer, already in oven since it was only partially thawed) and I need to s2s and get ready. BTW, we were out Thurs and Friday night, will be out tonight, tomorrow night and then Tuesday night.

Oy, found pickleworms in my squash yesterday! Need to research treatment, also one of my two tomato plants is ailing. I thought last week that it looked like something is eating on it but couldn't find the culprits.

[Harriet]

lucylee, I don't know many wise ideas. My parents' house will also get a musty odor. It is very "tight" with storm windows, that sort of thing, and that seems to actually make it worse. It smelled great after ddil gave it a professional clean, but honestly I can't think what she did that I don't do - it's just that she did it all in one 4-5 hour space of time. We also don't want to turn the AC down too low while the little family is not present, but maybe that would help. When I am there working, I open the front, mud room and den doors and get some air-flow (they have screens). One Good Thing website has some interesting ideas I've yet to try.

Mice - what was the wisdom ... ... anyone in North America is within 10 feet of a mouse, unless they are on - what was it, a houseboat? I think that was it. So we might as well embrace our common destiny and learn not to jump.

(part of )
"To a Mouse
On turning her up in her nest with the plough, November 1785"
by Robert Burns

Wee, sleeket, cowran, tim'rous beastie,
O, what panic's in thy breastie!
Thou need na start awa sae hasty,
Wi' bickering brattle!
I wad be laith to rin an' chase thee,
Wi' murd'ring pattle!

I'm truly sorry Man's dominion
Has broken Nature's social union,
An' justifies that ill opinion,
Which makes thee startle,
At me, thy poor, earth-born companion,
An' fellow-mortal!

[FelineFriend]

Good Afternoon, All!

It's sunny here, warm, but our heat pump keeps us cool.

We put away towels, I have washed the guest blanket, and am washing 2 afghans now.

I finished logging, editing, and proofing a Dec.story and submitted it. I liked it, but it can be used for Jan., too, I suppose. I have 2 more Dec. stories to do now. I wrote them by hand, during Dgs's stay, when he was gone with DH. It's nice to have them all handwritten out, only needing to be logged, etc... and subbed.

I'm trying to figure out now, if I want to do another story or both, today, or wait until tomorrow. I feel like I'm on a roll, so would love to do all 3 today. But I've got reading to do, 5 letters I owe replies to, and these can also be written tomorrow. Oh, well. I'll see how my alertness level goes. Maybe I could use a good rest now. It's been a long week, with Dgs here, but an easy week because he was so good.

[lucylee]

Hmmm... well, Harriet, I definitely share ddil's ill opinion of mice... * sheesh * I am terrified of them, and I don't know what I would have to do to convince myself they were sealed out of dmil's house, if I were going to live there. But -- I know steel wool in all major cracks and crevices is a HUGE help, so I will advise ds to take a flashlight and search out cracks and crevices before putting anything in the cabinets. A cat would be nice. Actually -- this may be one situation where having a dog in the house is a help? Ddog's presence/scent might be enough to discourage mice... but I guess a cat would be better.

I called dmom and made the trip to CVS... no progress on laundry or returning sheets to bed, though.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Dh and I are at logger-heads again.

The move-over of data did not go smoothly. Something went wrong and I may never discover what but I'm nerve wracked that I'll discover something missing at an inopportune moment.

One downside to Easy Transfer is that it moves all your junk. So my new computer is officially as messy as my old one.

I have Quicken and email up and running. Email was dh's doing. I tried to follow instructions and got lost so he did the computer-geek wave arms and edit a .ini file (goodness knows what that is) and it works now. Quicken I did, along with moving my Firefox bookmarks (Chrome come automatically.) Those I had to do on my own outside of Easy Transfer so, aside from moving mess over, I'm not quite sure what it is good for.

Still have no answer on the accounting software but don't expect one until Monday or Tuesday.

The movie was long (2:40) and then we drove dd to Costco and home. It was only $3 to park downtown so that was way cheaper than busing ($12) and better for me (less walking.) I had a banana before the show and popcorn during. Managed to avoid soda, sharing a lemonade with dh and having a water myself.

Once we were home, I worked on putting away the airing blankets and cleaning the balconies. They are ready. Have some furniture in the living room to move and food prep to do for tomorrow.

[Harriet]

Although I've had some frustration with how "backed up" our household chores seemed after being without water, I did have some successes today. And I got in my exercise. Ran errands. Let the pullets wander the grass this evening. The only errand left over is the Tractor Supply.

Used a clip for my hair (sides pulled back to nape of neck) since I never got around to rinsing again for curling. One of those that is a simple round fat clip that looks like a turtle, the same color as my hair. It wasn't awful. Dd really complimented. Makes me look like my grandmother (for good or ill). I may use it for church tomorrow. I would choose one of my colorful, attractive barrettes, but I don't really want to call attention to my hair the way it is, just calm/hold it down, so I don't look like a pufferfish got startled while sitting on my head.

[Harmony]

Hi to anybody still up. I had to turn on computer to send group email - our small group is meeting Monday night at the 50% off pizza place. I will not be eating pizza. The last time I did that I was up all night and did not know if it was acid problems or heart attack. Not doing THAT again.

Anyway, 3 years is a lot to look back on. I'd have to check the calendar for sure, but we had DH's hip break and years later the fix. DFiL illness and death. I know there was a lot more...

We don't have any mice, but yesterday I found our resident snake up on one of the front porch chairs. He is brown with darker stripes, so a garter snake or something like that. We leave him alone and see him often around the yard. He looks weird though, he's very wrinkley, almost like scalloped. The best way to describe him is someone's long hair after it has been put in one of those crimping irons. I've never seen a snake like that shape. I'd think maybe he's getting ready to shed his skin or something, but every time we see him he looks like that.

Today I allowed myself to sleep in. I wanted to be rested and be able to attend church tomorrow. I did get some things done, though, kitchen cleaned up nicely and DW run, 3 LOL folded and put away, a nice dinner of roasted chicken sweet potatoes and homemade coleslaw made. All-in-all a nice day.

[lucylee]

Ahhhh.... *** SUCCESS!!! ***
Success *FINALLY* w/the Wmart website!
Now granted, I was trying to upload 269 photos... but for goodness sakes. THREE TIMES (I think, maybe four?) when I got to the "preview prints" page, I would get this sudden blue screen w/the message from aol -- "OOPS -- Something happened. Please wait while we restart your browser."

FINALLY, I just quit trying to preview my prints... ordered... done...

And do y'all know, it is approximately twice as expensive to order site to store as it is to deliver to your house? And looks like it's faster to your house, too. Doesn't it seem like it should be the other way around? I've been getting site to store every time, b/c Wmart seems to have trouble "recognizing" my rural route address... it always wants to "suggest" something else. But this time, with that many pictures, I thought to heck with it -- other sites find my address. George Strait tickets found my address. Wmart surely can, too! So... hoping for the best.

That took about an hour. And there are still no sheets on our bed.

Waving to Harmony, but I bet you've gone to bed by now...