Work Smart Wednesday

[Lilac]

Kathryn, I imagine a snowstorm from your high rise is quite a sight. I have also been meaning to mention that your joy at having your children so close, always shines through in your posts.

I had to take a break and have some tea. My bs was diving. If I could stay this busy all the time, I would need little to no insulin.

Better get back to work...............

[blessedw2]

have a great day all.. I am errand running, Christmas shopping, and returns

[Harriet]

Sorry, guys I haven't even been here in several days. And ya'll are the most interesting of ALL folks, so that's sad!

Lilac's opening - yikes, well, maybe it's best I didn't see that first this a.m!

Did not realize that Angel Tree coordinators work so hard and put in this much time.
I have been doing the work of a dispatcher preparing the routing and directions/info for 6 to 7 (wish we knew) teams of volunteers who will leave with gifts Saturday. A lot to hold in mind and printout, both. Without map-quest I don't think I could have done it and we would have had a lot of wasted mileage, so I'm grateful to that very forgiving site.

That basically took up my Tuesday, along with making and affixing all the stickers for books, placing into baggies by family. Dd16 helped me accomplish that project, which looked like the old card game "Concentration" with dining table filled with varied-age books and all the names. So busy with all these things I still haven't gotten to wrap that one gift, so you guys know I have been too busy!

Found out that previous coordinator who moved away ( probably because of this job) used to also be available to help prepare breakfast for all volunteers that morning. I said that for the good of the congregation, I should not be involved in large-scale cooking, but would attend the BoJangles window if asked. No, turns out menfolk will do it, and that's great.

Today I took the opportunity between projects to spend the morning on the 18 children's gifts for dfirstinlaw party the 20th. (this many because of dd34 requesting to go in with us - and me deciding she deserved her own "packaging") I took our minister's advice and gave in to A-river.com "prime" for first time. 14 gifts arrive in two days. Now I can peek between my fingers and look at Lilac's beginning sentences!

Actually, this (online ordering) has been the advice of many - some here, I believe - but his mini-speech about it to his wife and I on Sunday clinched it for me, for this year at least. He was concerned about her (and many women like her/us), trying to drive all over the place to do what they believe their families want, "making it look easy" when it is really hard.

The rest of the gifts will come from local small shops dd and I already planned to visit.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

When you think of A'prime in terms of gas saved and reduced risk of accident (with a HUGE cost) it becomes really a bargain. I hadn't thought of it that way at all.

Ds's phone has rung twice. One of his friends had her baby this morning. Dh got that fact out of the first call. I asked boy or girl? and he looked at me with a blank look. Sigh.... Fortunately, a second call gave us gender, size, name, and the fact that they are at ds's hospital. Which means he'll know all this already since he worked in the Birthing Unit last night! Thankfully, these calls aren't waking him up!

(We are handling his phone for him because he's expecting an offer of a shift beginning at 7:30 and he wants to be able to sleep through but simultaneously let them know he's taking the shift so having an answering service is an extra luxury for him!)

Yes, the snowstorm is pretty. But distracting. It is also windy so my balcony wind chimes (which are mostly sheltered and strapped down) are softly ringing, the ornaments hung from the window are tinkling as the window shudders from time to time, and the weather station's wind sensor is spinning madly.

I have only been handling laundry, nothing else, so I need to accomplish something. Anything.

[Lilac]

The living room and dining room are clean and all decorations out. Now I will need to pick and put away the mess and start cleaning again. That is after I color hair, shower and pick out frames.

[Lilac]

Hair color applied and is processing. I wish I didn't have to mess with the eye dr. but I'm overdue, due to mine retiring, suddenly.

A/prime worked out great when dd2 needed to order dgd18s Santa gift. It needed to be shipped here and I owed her money for my share of the gifts. I still need to pay her but she knows I am good for it. The gift arrived here this morning. Now we are just waiting on the American Girl dolls, etc.

Dd2 plans to fix some candy, etc. on Friday night. She wants it to seem as much like Christmas as possible for her dgrandma.

Guess I better pay attention to my timer............

[FelineFriend]

Nice Opener, Lilac.

We're having a terrible wind/rain storms, many rivers are above flood stage now, but we're safe, where we live. The lights blinked on and off a few times this a.m., but the power stays on and is holding its own.

I'm not drinking coffee today, because out-of-the-blue, my mild Tinnitus got terrible! And then, I ate a whole avocado yesterday, I was reading an e-book on Tinnitus and foods, and they said to stay away from AVOCADOS!!!! I "DID" a proactive thing though: I wrote a Tinnitus-Friendly grocery list. Also, I ordered a paperback book, which will have much more info in it, than my mere 53-page e-book did. I miss coffee already, but I don't "need" it, really. A s2s will wake me in the mornings, along with stretches, yoga, Pilates and walking. I guess exercise and weight loss, healthy eating, etc... is good for this, too. Nice to know. I had Labrynthitis once, so I don't know if it's back again or not. I see the Dr. in 1.5 weeks, this isn't life-threatening, so listening to music, etc... helps just fine. I slept very good. I only had ringing in my one ear 1 time, when I was getting to sleep, and this a.m., when I got up. In mid-nighttime, when I used the bathroom, I was ringing-free! I was so happy with that! Oh, I get to eat things like bananas, etc.. again, too, so these new good healthy foods will be fun, not that I've been eating unhealthy, but I haven't been eating as many fruits and veggies as I should be.

The early news at 11 a.m. just came on. I'd better go listen to the storm news. I have a bunch of letters to read and reply to today, too, and want to declutter, too. I'd love to crochet the fringe on my heather grey scarf, so my hat/scarf set is done.

Have a great day, Everybody! Waving to you all! I just wanted to pop in, to say hello, and wave at you, in case our power goes out. It's nice to read everybody's posts. Harriet, you're comical, too.

[DeeClutter]

Try to use that 'prime' as much as possible here. Sure I've more than made up the yearly cost in saved gas and mileage on the car, Kathryn. Know items are sometimes 'more' but are they really when I take into account all the extra running around and possibly not finding it at all?

Dh has gone to meeting at church. I elected to stay home and keep recuperating -will tomorrow as well. He has another meeting tomorrow. I'm supposed to go to Trivia with dd tomorrow night but plan to stay home rather than getting tired out and slipping backward. Plus there's always germs to spread.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Made candied almonds. Relatively easy, good results. One recipe was a cup of sugar to 3 cups of almonds. I didn't use that one! Did sprinkle these ones with icing sugar after they cooled to discourage clumping. So they look prettier too.

Next up, shortbread and lemon squares (almost the same recipe so I re-use the mixer components without washing in between.

I have a splitting headache so feel like I'm working my way through a fog in order to get something done. I'd rather go to bed.

[FelineFriend]

Kathryn, I've made candied almonds before, TOO! I gave them at Christmastime, in pretty little jelly jars, with the cut glass designs on them, and cut fabric, to go under the tops, to make them festive-looking, too. They went over well. We gave cards, at the same time, too, and visited neighbors, when we delivered them, plus crocheted kitchen gifts. It was fun to do.

I need to draft a business letter, get it signed by DH and me, and sent ASAP! I'm uncertain "who" we should write it to specifically, but the County Treasurer is whom the letter is meant for. DH said he'll look over the papers again, to see what he can read. There is a "Contact Us," paragraph, so that's a good place to start.

I got the grocery list written, with the 2 prescriptions, for me, from the same store's pharmacy section, for DH. I told him I'll wait to eat lunch, after he gets back. I ordered a paperback 5-star book on Tinnitus, too. DH's cousin has Tinnitus, since childhood, and when she was 11 years of age, she was at a slumber party. She told all of the girls, "WHEN DID YOUR RINGING IN THE EARS START FOR YOU? MINE STARTED WHEN I WAS 9 YEARS OLD!" And she said they looked at her, as though she was NUTS, and then, she realized at that precise moment, how EVERYBODY was not the same way! The poor kid! Then, she didn't talk about it to her friends ever again.

I caved in, had a mild cup of coffee, will make it my ONLY caffeinated drink today! I couldn't stand the headache, to be honest with you, and I felt so cranky!

Dmom's in the hospital with a 102* fever, they're keeping her for a "couple of days," and then, Dbro wanted Dson/Ddil's and DD's addresses, to send cards, and he gave my Dsis his email address AND snail mail address. Once, years ago, after a long day out and about, DSIL called me. She was so excited about selling a new "green" product line, wanted to tell me about it, I reacted instinctively, and treated her like ANY telemarketer, said, "I'm not interested," and I hung up on her. I felt so BAD, ever since, about it, was so embarrassed, etc... So today, I told Dbro, my apology, and now that I have their address, I'll write DSIL a letter of apology, formally, on pretty stationery, to try and explain how I'd reacted immediately, and didn't mean to hang up on her, in my rude way, how I did, and how very sorry I am about it. So, this is on my list to do, too, which should have been done long ago, but honestly, I didn't have their new address, and time has a way of getting away from us.

It's still stormy, but the power's stopped blinking on and off, which is a good thing. I need to run and read about 4 letters, I received yesterday, get a card/letter in the mail to Dbro/Dsil, too, and just keep on trucking!

Waving to you all, have a wonderful "Work Smart Wednesday," too!