Simple Saturday

[Nancy]

I have been thinking I simply need to get off my be hind and get moving in the kitchen it is on dire neeed of attn. Staring here would be good. Clear counters, dishes, work on table.

Coffee is on, chickens fed, 50* outside, snow drops budding, butter cups on bloom made tne news this week.

I sort of have meals plans today.
laundry could use attn.

Okay thats my simple plan to get started.

[lucylee]

Pretty simple around here... so simple I haven't even s2s yet. Trying to decide whether or not to color my hair today. I think "not" has won the argument.
Wondering if my dmom is going to come here to get her carpet samples or if I need to go to her house.
Also trying to decide whether to make another trip to H obby L obby for pens and suggestions re: writing on rocks.
I will try the clorox though, RR. That's a good idea. The shine will definitely scratch and flake, with the edge of scissors or something like that, but whether it will be enough -- I don't know. The first rocks I tried worked GREAT -- they were some old ones that came with one of those $10 tabletop water fountains. These I bought at Wmart are the ones causing the problem.

Hope you feel better soon, too, RR!

WTG on your floors, Dee!
LOL -- you've got war movies every way you turn, don't you?

Oh! I have another movie review: Foxcatcher. True story about John DuPont and the Olympic wrestling team he was sorta obsessed with. I'll try not to give away much of the plot but there was a shocker in it for me, not knowing ANYTHING about the story going into it. In the words of Barney Fife, though, let me assure you that DuPont was a NUT. It's a very good movie, Academy Award nominee, and all the reviews say Steve Carrell captures DuPont's character perfectly. (Very out-of-character for Carrell, IMHO). Channing Tatum, as one of the main wrestlers, is the most sulky, hard-to-read character I've ever seen. Far from his stereotypical roles too. From his character's behavior, one starts wondering if DuPont molested him or something, but I never saw anything to point to that in the movie. (The real life character, Mark Shultz, was very upset that some early audience reviewers felt the movie DID hint at this, and denies that anything like that ever happened.) In some parts, especially in the begining, the movie is kinda slow, partly b/c Tatum is so sulled up and SILENT. But it gets moving, and it is just fascinating how crazy DuPont IS. So -- I'd say well-worth seeing.

Helia, I can't imagine doing all you do and not feeling overwhelmed! I am in constant amazement at your schedule. Congratulations to dd on her midterms!

Good job on organizing your craft supplies, too, Twins!

I have a bunch of scrapbook paper and stuff I never use. DS & DDIL gave me two scrapbooks, and baby-themed trims/embellishments/etc (to do dgs scrapbooks) for my retirement, and ddil was sooo excited, thinking I would be sooo excited, but it has been 18 months and I haven't even STARTED anything with that.

LadyM -- you certainly deserve some SIMPLE moments before dd arrives.

Hope Nancy, blessed & Kathryn get to enjoy a simple Saturday, too!
And Kathryn -- thanks for the input on the cheap sheets. I will probably take your advice and go right to the store with them when they arrive. I think B elk has a pretty good return policy.

[lucylee]

I am still in my housecoat -- -- but I have my rocks soaking in half/half water & Clorox, and I have accomplished two wonderful things:
given my Mother a "mission" to fulfill that has her all excited, and given an elderly friend of the family hope for the future.

All I did was introduce the two.
Dmil's former housekeeper came by to borrow $40. This is not at all unusual, and promptly on the 3rd of the month she will be on my doorstep to pay it back. She had told me in the past that she was having trouble understanding how she could STILL owe money on her 40+ year mortgage, when she was paying over $650 per month and had never missed a payment. (Twins? Are you reading this?)
Dmom is a former loan officer, compliance officer, and accountant... so when she came by to get the carpet samples, I told her about this lady who was on her way, and I said, "I hope she gets here before you leave -- she needs to tell you about this situation..."
Well. Dmom was just amazed. Said this was the craziest thing she had ever heard of. She told dfriend that in all likelihood her next payment would be her last and probably the loan company would owe HER money. She told dfriend to get her a copy of the original mortgage and let her see it and then they would get dbil involved to contact these people. Dmom is just all revved up to tackle this -- said she just wanted to "shake somebody" LOL...

AND -- dmom had her make-up on, looked great, looked like she felt better. This is wonderful.
I really think making the decision about the church has taken a load off her mind and given her a new lease on life.
And, I have to admit, if we get into medical procedures, etc. w/her... I'm kinda relieved to know that the old preacher, the one at her new church, will be the one who will be my support system if needed. I know he is the type who will be there before surgery, and someone I can call if needed. I've never even met the preacher at my/her old church -- although I do know the associate pastor very well, and he actually lives next door to the house dmom is remodeling. I hate to "lose" his support and friendship, but if he IS a real friend and acting in a Christian way, that will not happen, right?

Anyway -- dmom and dfriend feel that God certainly put them together this morning and I'm glad I could make the introduction for him.

Now... what to do... I think I'll enjoy some simple time too.

[Harriet]

Here I was, ready to give a dissertation on cotton fiber length from my point of expertise in the Carolinas to the point of expertise of someone in the further south, and someone from Ontario has already explained it. I am perplexed. Nevertheless, ahem... ... one looks for the adjective "longstaple", or long staple. in cotton that will touch the skin, like for underwear or sheets, because along the length of the fiber it will always feel soft. The more ends you encounter in the "hand", or feel, the less softness, so the short staple doesn't feel as smooth. But short staple is excellent when the cotton's fibers are required to affix to each other snugly, such as quiltmaking or warmer garments, blankets.

We still have a working short staple farm about a mile from us as the crow flies, though it is as much educational these days as commercial. Egyptian Cotton is another good phrase to look for, and, at one time, was always called Egyptian LongStaple on this continent to reassure those who didn't think you could grow soft cotton elsewhere. Here we also have ELS or Extra Long Staple, grown in tidewater areas of the east coast and gulf states. I have a first cousin who attends to her cotton gin every day, much nearer the coast than me, and makes rather a good living, I think.

Anyway, on a practical level, lucylee the more recent the date on those reviews the worse they get. Not a good sign.

Trick sales phone calls - Have ya'll had the unnerving experience of getting one of these sales calls that comes up on the caller ID as being from your own home phone you are answering, with your own name? I understand that this is a techno-trick that savvy telemarketing groups can manage, to disrupt the normal caller ID displays. I just blessed a telemarketer out while he laughed his head off and told him he was doing something alarming and illegal. (I'm not sure it's illegal, but it should be.) In hindsight I should have told him I was a gypsy and knew how to put a curse on him over the telephone line. But that might be stereotyping. I'm not sure. I am sure a gypsy would LIKE to say the same thing to him. The initial recorded message I answered was a woman's voice saying this was my final chance to lower my credit card rate.

[blessedw2]

d Nancy .. sending you kitchen energy!!
D lucy thanks for the movie review... and so happy your d mom got spiffied up which shows your d mom is feeling better... what a blessing.
d helia... you bless so many people in your day... that is a full time job
d rose please feel better d harmony same for you
d twins.... I goofed... Yes I goofed. Yay on all the organizing! such an accomplishment
d dee your bathroom looks good!
d Lady.. how is little one now? Boy that time flies. How fun for him... basketball camp.

Saw duncle and he is doing better a little each day... the day before yesterday I almost called the family in; now d uncle is in less pain and is feeling a bit better - he definitely made dh and i laugh.

I have a sign asking for help from d family re: floors

[lucylee]

Lady at H obby L obby assures me that Sharpie is my best bet on markers... she suggested sandpaper on the rocks too, so after the Clorox bath, I'll try that.

Our weekend just became much less simple...
DS & dgs are coming over to watch the basketball game on tv tonight w/dh. I suspect only one of them will be the least bit interested in the game, of course...
and then ds wanted to know if we might keep dgs after church tomorrow. * sigh * I told dh this would happen, while he was bemoaning the fact that dgs had not been over here all week... I told him it was always feast or famine w/them... and now dh would like to stay home from church tomorrow b/c we have to get up at 7:45 to be there at 9:00 and that just doesn't fit dh's biological clock, w/out a nap on Sunday afternoon. I told him he should NOT stay home b/c w/ds & ddil, their plans can change with the wind. We will both go to church, hope dgs will take a nap, and if he doesn't, I will either occupy him or take him out to dmom's or something. I love my Sunday nap, too, but women ARE the stronger sex, right?

Decluttered five magazines. Only tore out ONE article to add to the collection.

Long-staple... Eygptian... higher count thread... got it. Thanks, Harriet AND Kathryn.

So glad your duncle is doing better, blessed.

OH -- the telemarketer calls. I don't answer anything "out of area" or unrecognizable, and haven't yet gotten any from "my own number" although I've heard that is a new problem around here too. We do get calls from a "local church" and they turn out to be telemarketers. So we don't answer from that church anymore, either. If we are missing legitimate calls, they will just have to leave a message.

[Harmony]

Hello everyone.

My sheets I bought a few years ago with the high thread count (don't remember how high) are doing fine. They just have a different texture than the usual cheaper ones I buy. They don't feel like flannel, but they don't have the hard shiny slippery texture of those sateen ones either. Somewhere in between, like tshirts, very soft. The first time I washed them the seemed to shrink width-wise but have not shrunk after that. Lucy, when I read your reviews, it was almost like people were talking about two different kind of sheets. Harriet may be right about the dates, I didn't look at that. One would think after reading reviews: do they wrinkle or not? Confusing.

LadyM, what's going on with your car...it seems to have been gone a long time.
RR, you and I are couch potatoes today.
helia, even though your job is part time, you are as busy or more than anyone I know with a full time job. You fill up all your extra time with volunteer work, it's no wonder you have no time left.
Dee, would you buy that mop again? I've been considering it for a year...also been considering a steam machine too...

I got up early, but then napped on the couch all morning. I am just extremely weak and shaky. Can't wait to get off that antibiotic.

Called the CPA and he said to come ahead with my year-in-a-file. I did that, it's a 15 minute ride at most and I've come to the conclusion I should not be driving the way I'm feeling. In the 3 minute conversation I had with him, we went over our year and what really went on, and he asks questions and seems interested, but I know it is only numbers, especially to male accountants. Maybe a female accountants would be more interested in the "back story" of why things were difficult, but I don't expect that out of him. Eyebrows did raise though when I told him about DH's hip operation and me following him around jobsites with a chair. I wonder if Twins agrees with this about accountants?

Forced myself to eat and drink a bit. I gotta get over this weakness. I hope Sunny is feeling better, I haven't heard recently.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Got a phone call from my own number just yesterday. Apparently, my last purchase using Airmiles won me a $999 credit and I needed to stay on the line <click> I don't know the rest of the story because I don't have Airmiles so knew it was fake even without the call display clue.

Ds, when he calls me using VOIP through his computer comes up on our call display as L Schmidt, 489-0000 (the first three digits are the exchange in the village but ds's telephone number doesn't have a 489 prefix, it is an 806 number so we are flummoxed as to why that's displayed (we also don't know any Schmidts out there.)

Still not feeling well physically. Rested all morning, got dressed at noon and dh and I walked over to the next 'village' (in this part of the city the neighbourhood business have labeled themselves as part of villages since our neighbourhood was a village back in the 1800s.) I think it allows the condo owners to charge more.

Anyway, the farthest we were going was CAA to buy movie tickets at a discount but we stopped along the way for lunch at a bagel shop and at the thrift store for glass loaf pans. No luck with the pans but I got a lovely square serving bowl in clear glass to match the white pottery one I picked up from the giveaway shelf, a ramekin to replace one of the two I've broken in the past 6 weeks, two skirts and a gorgeous, casual, zipped sweater from a designer. That would sell for $180 new. My total charge was $33 and the kitchen wear made up 75 cents of that bill!

From there we went to CAA and the movie tickets only save 50 cents each so we decided to pass since we'd be tied down to one chain.

Walked home a longer route so we could explore a neighbourhood we see from our bedroom but seldom go into (I biked through it once and dh took the bus through it once.)

Total number of steps were 8K so I'm doing much better today than recent days.

I'm ready for a nap now and might take it since it is Saturday and nothing much is happening here.

We let paramedics into the building but no sign of the ambulance so we are slightly confused. And there was a real accident below us at the bridge today. I'm constantly hearing sirens and often look out but today was the first time there was an accident to be seen. Never heard it at all.

Also ordered a telescope (couldn't see the damage to the cars clearly with just the binoculars and lately we've been seeing things on the ice on the river and want to take a closer look) and sheets just because Lucylee got me googling them. They are from Costco so if I don't like them, they can go back. Had to laugh at Harriet's comment about me beating her to the cotton explanation!

[DeeClutter]

Dee, would you buy that mop again?

So far I'd have to say "yes", Harmony. There is a wheeled platform for sale for it though and I am considering buying that -just so it'd be easier for me going from room to room here. Our bathroom is a long ways to the kitchen/dining room. Dh carried it out for me. Otherwise the pail slides around the tiled floor quite easily. I just finished mopping the kitchen. For me it was easy -no bending or wringing. Nice. The rest of the house is carpeted except for the guest bathroom. I probably should give that a once over while I have the water ready.

[lucylee]

LOL... sorry if I sent temptation your way for the sheets, Kathryn.
Definitely agree these reviewers may be looking at two different kinds of sheets, Harmony! Do they wrinkle or not? And do they feel like sandpaper or not??? I don't think I'm even going to risk it. We can actually do without sheets right now... I may still go get my $$$ back and get a Fitbit instead. DH continues to be skeptical about the Fitbit, saying he has never had a pedometer that worked at all accurately, why would this be any different? (So if I waste money on that, he'll say he told me so.)

Boy... my dmom would be an accountant who would be interested in all the ins and outs of the past year, Harmony... good gracious... you wouldn't believe the conversation she had with dfriend and friend's nephew just in talking about the crazy mortgage situation.

(((Harmony))) I am just so sorry you are having such a horrible time with that antibiotic. How many more days?

I have (FINALLY) got myself in gear and s2s * even shaved my legs * and took vitamins and did daily Bible reading.
Then, thinking about how tomorrow will be crazy w/dgs saying, "Nana stay HERE (in 'his' room)" all afternoon, I decided to get as much as possible of my Sunday chores out of the way. So... progress:
* refilled meds for the week
* cleaned/aired vaporizer
* watered plants (and cut off a lot of dead leaves)
* wrote check for newspaper man
* checked over the grocery list
* found coupons for granola bars and eggs
* laid out clothes for tomorrow
* wrote check to renew Real Simple magazine

NOW... I am headed to the couch till dgs arrives!