Wednesday MIA

[Sadie]

Hello Dear Ladies,

RAIN here.

Got Dbrother an appointment for Friday at 10:00. They will be working us in so don't know how long we will be there.

DH has a couple of projects but they are freebies he does for long standing customers as an appreciation. It's raining so can't work on lawn mower or the yard for that matter. He has two paying projects but the trouble is they are half way done and he has to wait on the customers before beginning the second half and they just want to pay him once so we wait. Still praying for paying work.

Work day for me too.

Hoping co-worker Sharon is able to come back to work. It's usually just 3 of us on Wednesday nights and one our co-workers is off having cataract surgery so it could just end up being me for whole apparel dept.

Off for a shower then thing I will try calling dson in NC

Great day to all!

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Lunch is finished and the dishes are washed up.

I've filled in the food diary for the day (so if I vary from it, I know how much damage I'll be doing.) Have a great high protein, lower calorie day planned. Dh has proposed a walk to do an errand he has so that will get me the extra calories I need to come in on program. I've been eating every calorie allotted to me but that still has me in a deficit so I'm still losing steadily (but quite slowly, or at least it feels that way.)

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Harmony: Here's a link to vacuum I ordered:

http://www.costco.ca/Miele-Complete-C3- ... 19342.html

The C3 series replaces the S8 series from years past and seems to have just come out this spring. Because they are made in Germany and must meet EU standards, they are limited to a 1200 watt motor but apparently the design means this is no problem, they still work better than a Dysan.

Looking forward to no frustrations vacuuming next week. For the past 4 weeks I've been frustrated, often to tears, by my vacuum and the poor job it does sucking up things from the hardwood floors. I kept promising to buy myself a new one and then not make the time during the week to go shopping. Yesterday, I had the bright idea to look on the C stco website and sure enough, in Canada, they carried the brand I was looking for.

[Nancy]

I had to switch up my routine walk a bit early need to do the same before posting and journaling but even eatlier tomorrow. I discovered h.'s easy chair has broken frame I went to the thrift shop w/ no luck finding another yet.

Return lib book. X

Time for my lunch. X Now. Sort of fighting with the new dish cloth pattern to get them all to turn out consistently the same they are diff just like chickens. Got the idea for little one that are chicks!
Last load for today is in the washer.

[lucylee]

Hello to everyone!!!
I'm thinking I have been a bad influence on some of y'all... sleeping in like this...
LOL!!! I hope you know I am kidding!!! Y'all say, "I slept in till 7:00 ... 8:00 ... " and I'm like because the day NEVER gets started around here till 11:00 a.m. But I have just sorta accepted the fact that this is the schedule we are on. If we were night shift workers, no one would think a thing about it.

However, today, b/c I had my phone on silent, I missed a call from the pool table man this morning. Called him back... WOO HOO!!! JOY JOY JOY!!! He will be here Friday and FINALLY, that pool table will be out of ds's way!!! HOORAY HOORAY HOORAY!!!

Also made phone call to bank to double check dh's check on auto-deposit... yep... (DH said, "The pool table man will get all that, won't he?"
Well... only half of it THIS time... the other half when he comes back to set up the table here.

Went to post office, grocery store, library.

Called ds to tell him about the pool table man, so he can schedule his other work.

That IS terrible for your dd and her family, Harmony! So scary!

Trends... well... after vacation week and misc other things that got me off routine, I am just slowly trying to get back into good habits. Morning exercise for #1. I also have done NOTHING on the 30-day declutter since Saturday, so I need to get back to that. So... I will promise now to follow my checklist and have some things accomplished before I return and before I settle back in with my book. * Did y'all know Susanna Wesley was the last of 25 children??? She gave birth to 19 of her own, also. I cannot even imagine...

Hope you all have a good day!

[helia]

Um, not being very productive. I need to be MIA. . . I have worked on lists, updated laundry, checked on guest bedding (we have plenty of pillows, it turns out), and gotten the kitchen back to MO.

Harmony, that is really awful about ((dd and her family.)) I'm SO glad they were OK! Yes, I do think tourists are a target, likely in any foreign country. I remember friends of ours told us how they took the subway while they were vacationing in Italy. They had a lot of heavy luggage. Someone offered to help them get their suitcases off the subway - and then proceeded to run off with 2 of their suitcases once he had carried them off the subway. An Italian stereotype (so not all true, I'm sure) is that the farther south one goes in Italy, the more crime there is b/c the mafia is concentrated more in the south. Northern Italians are very different from southern Italians. Actually, I think Rome is kind of in the middle. . .

I don't carry a purse while I'm traveling internationally, except for in Canada , and my passport and driver's license, etc. stay in a bag around my neck and under my shirt until I have a safe in which to lock it. I carry the girls' passports too. Dh does the same with his passport and documents, though maybe ds carries his own now - also in a bag under his shirt.

When we went to Italy last summer, dh investigated and decided not to rent a car. I think that was more for pragmatic reasons than safety reasons. We did rent once we got to NL. He had us all pack lightly so we would be as mobile as possible. I believe we only took carry on. This was necessary for us b/c at one point en route from Naples to the Amalfi Coast, we had to walk quite a ways through a small town, Sorrento, to get from the train stop to the dock to catch the boat to our next location.

Mobility and transportation are things to consider with dd, Twins. There are pros and cons with all options. It is just helpful to know them beforehand.

Off to update laundry and then head to BBB.

[Harmony]

Yes, about my family and the theft in Rome, it was pretty awful. ALL their clothes were in there and some Jewelry and IPads, etc. so this cost them probably many thousands. Plus they had to wait to get new passports and couldn't come home when they'd planned. Other DD went over and got DGD (who was left behind with sitter who couldn't stay more days). So, a mess all the way around.

Kathryn, my Miele is a S251i model. I couldn't figure out what the watts of the motor is, didn't see it in the booklet. Yours looks very similar in shape/size, though mine is shiny royal blue! I think it's awkward to drag around...but then vacuuming is my LEAST favorite job in the house. I would rather scrub toilets! Yes, really. My cord is nice and long, but still I have to change plugs many times around here. I've never found the bags or the filters anyplace but the vacuum store. I think I paid a little over $400 when I bought it, so pricey. I'm glad it's lasted this long so far.

Just looked it up, my model is no longer available and has been replaced by the Titan and Callisto models. And I find online 4 bags and 1 motor filter and 1 exhaust filter is $18.95..and those bags aren't really spacious. So, will be interested in seeing how you like yours.

We're still waiting for DH to get back. He was delayed a long time out in the sod field. The helper and I cleaned out the shop a little and he blew out the leaves and dust on the floors and shelves. Upset that it took DH so long, we could have had this truckload unloaded by now. And a customer is coming by tonight...

[Elizabeth]

It's hailing outside my window. This is good, because it is only 130 rather than when I have to walk to the bus stop like yesterday! Progress being made at payroll.

I have made my plan for the evening

• animal org meeting (always long)
• more cleanup
• writeup on animals for the pet sitter
• update Garmin maps
• check some vacation activities, reserve if necessary

I will vacuum Harmony's house if she will scrub my toilets.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Went for a walk with dh and then walked on to the store and bought a heating pad. Mine isn't working properly and I needed it last night. Hope this one works for me.

Just got an email saying the printer toner cartridge had been delivered. Since it wasn't here in the apartment, we went through the pile of mail I brought up from the mail room and found the key to the parcel drop box. Dh had said that it was hard to miss. Actually, it isn't if you aren't going through each piece of mail separately. I do that (eventually, sometimes I batch mail processing) but our super just drops the mail while we are on holiday and a parcel might be arriving then so we'll have to remind him to watch for it.

[lucylee]

I will vacuum Harmony's house if she will scrub my toilets.

ME, TOO, Elizabeth. Ugh... I despise cleaning toilets, it seems like the minute I get done they need it again, and I am never satisfied with my efforts.

BUT -- y'all will not recognize me at the moment --
BIG TA-DA here!
You know how one thing leads to another? Well, look how I have spent the last hour or so:
* S/S all toilets
* 15 min declutter linen closet -- which is really just a portion of a linen shelf, b/c the towels are in a separate closet and that is strictly dh's domain. Linen closet really only meant restacking sheets and pillowcases. I don't have a bunch of sheets b/c we just wash and re-use the same ones all the time.
* 15 min declutter make-up stash -- WOO HOO here! Vacuumed out that whole drawer, tossed a bunch of things, organized, sorted, etc.
* 15 min declutter jewelry stash -- WOO HOO here, too! Sorted, used jewelry cleaner on a few things, tossed some things, vacuumed jewelry hanger
* Then, since I had the vacuum out in the bathroom anyway, I went ahead and vacuumed the countertops and floor.
It looks sooo much better in the master bedroom now, and I am caught up w/the decluttering except for medicine cabinet and today's task. Clothing? If it is clothing, this is not a good day for that one, b/c I don't have time to take stuff to thrift store or anything.
I also ate lunch, did Bible reading, and read a little in the Susanna Wesley book.