SHEs Organized

Harriet My DH tried a new way he had read about to fry bacon. Put slices in cold pan and add water to cover - Cook at med. temp. until water gone and bacon has coolked to desired doneness (crispy is best). Because the bacon cooks as water evaporates, it takes less time to cook crispy and it doesn't curl. Worth a try.

I have FINALLY settled all the financial woes. Altogether I was able to get over $66 back - $15 fee for sending the check back, $31 NSF fee, plus I was able to convince Gas Company they owed us $22 credit for gas I paid for and didn't receive last fall.

I put up the Christmas Decorations this morning and did up the dishes. Now I have two loads of laundry to fold and put away. When DH comes home I will have groceries to put away but that will be all for today. I've had enough stress this week - I need (deserve) a down day.

Later this afternoon I'm going to play around making up a folder for the contractor for the kitchen remodel. More or less a sample book to give him what I want so I can get an more accurate estimate.

little pieces of clutter in paper etc. in dining room and front hall. dh took presents and locked them away. front room done except for music which needs to go up stairs

I will have to do something with my papers and dd youngers papers (dh does all his paper work in the dining room and so have we and it isn't working

it's a good thing I kept up with dejunking most times these areas on a regular basis otherwise the boxes would be a ton of misc.
more than anything I want to go through everything left and make decisions but now is not the time. So I will have one box of misc. Thank you d harriet for your dejunking thread...this would be harder than it is without your and others support while I dejunk.

Dh and I took ds's car over to the mechanic and then walked on to the store and picked up the mail. The walk back was cold when we were going into the wind. Thankfully we both had our fedoras with the drop down ear and forehead flaps for extra warmth. And scarves. We never got too cold.

I stayed outside and put out the shovels (one by each door and the rest in the garage) and placed the reindeer out on the porch and hung up a big red bow. Lights don't go on for another 2 days but everything is ready for the big moment!

It is snowing hard now and is to get really, really, cold tomorrow and then up above freezing for the weekend.

Had lunch and played a game of parcheesi with ds before starting in on my housework. He's still up, but in a recliner, and working hard on applying for unemployment sickness benefits, gathering the info and filling in the forms. He called the hospital and they'll send his record of employment which is part of what he's missing. Things are more complicated for ds because he's a casual shift worker who has been working at least 4 and sometimes 7 shifts a week. It averages out to 10 every two weeks but the government doesn't count your hours that way.

Weekly kitchen chores are done.

The fry pan from last night and a couple of other non-dishwasher items are washed.

I had my nap, finished the second book in The Walk series and took dh back to the mechanic to pick up ds' car and then went to the library to pick up Downton Abbey, Season 1. I put a hold request on it last March! Season 2 starts on reruns on PBS on Sunday so I have 3 days!

Still have the mopping, dusting and vacuuming to be done. But the kitchen is clean and I have a plan for dinner.

Has been an exhausting day - CPE this morning (supposed to be all day) then I left to go to hospital where dsis is hospitalized. Will post more in J&C. She only weighs about 78 pounds now, according to dniece who is married to her son.

I am going to order a pizza for my supper. DH is playing tennis. I am feeling almost numb.

I am getting so tired -is it the weekend yet? Feels like I drove the car all day! Took gd14 to school, back home, dh & I went to hardware & post office, back to look for electrical place, took supplies to dd's school, went to dbil/dsil's for a couple of hours, drove & grabbed lunch, came back home, went back to pick up gd from school and home. I think I'm staying here now.

DD called a while ago to see if I wanted to meet her at B Buy to pick up dh's Christmas present. I DON'T want to go anywhere! So she's coming home after tutoring. Decided to just have soup & grilled cheese for dinner. I'm too pooped to think up anything bigger than that.

Should go make sure gd took her afternoon meds (it's a mood stabilizer & can sure tell by evening if she didn't take it).

Have several small jobs (entailing the phone) that I just can't seem to get to this week. I've done just about nothing here. Tomorrow it'll be taking gd to school and then to church to work on Sunday's bulletin. Going to B Buy from there and try to pick up dh's gift myself. DD will sneak it in the house tomorrow night.

Feel like I'm so out of the loop in our village.

DSisIL gave me a box of pictures I'm trying to scan. One had a picture of DS-A at 4 months with dd. Sent it to ddil and everyone asks how she put dgbaby in a picture with dd She called to tell me her dd was going to freak out when she saw the picture that night. They look so much alike at that age! But usually I see a difference between them -just not in this particular picture.

Hi everyone! I rewrote my resume in an easier to read format and removed dates. There were no substantive changes, just format.

Tonight is art class and dinner at Cracker Barrel. Tomorrow, I need to get back on the job hunt in a serious manner. I have been paralyzed for too long.

A quick wave to y'all...
I've been working on Xmas tree and such. Looks like a tornado hit my LR. I'm. About half way done but ran out of steam.

Last winter I went without diet soda for 3 months I use slenda but cut that way down as well. Didn't effect my headache. Now slender has a natural sweetner made out of a plant. It's not sevia. I hate the taste of that. This is called nectresse'. It's not half bad....

Back to my tree bbl if I can...

Just lost a very long post that was mostly a rant...
Suffice it to say, this has been one heck of a day.
The Lord was probably taking care of me by making that post disappear.

The only good thing I said in it was basically to send (((HUGS))) & prayers to Kathryn's ds. Hope he feels better soon.

I got the freezer cleaned out and inventoried. We have lots to eat up over the next month. Tomorrow is meal planning for December, so I'll use up as much as I can. I thought I'd be ironing tonight but didn't so I'll put the linen back in.

Dinner went well, ds ate a small portion of everything and I saw him come up to the kitchen for something later in the evening. Dh and I watched the first two episodes of Downton Abbey after dinner.

I've got one load of laundry in the dryer, the second is started and the dishwasher is running now that I've finished up the hand dishes. I did up the Dh got all the garbage/recycle out to the curb for me.

I'll stay up until the washer load ends. Ds is in bed now. Thank you, Lucylee, for thinking of him. He ended up being up and dressed for a lot of the day (but down for a 3 hour nap in the afternoon.) So that is a big improvement. Tomorrow, I'll discuss taking him home for a few hours in the evening. Ds has a drumming workshop tomorrow night so we'd be there about at least 3 hours. He could gather up anything he needs and I can get his comforter and duvet cover to bring home and wash. Also check up on dfs and make sure he's ok (maybe do all the dishes and clean up the kitchen for him.)

You're such a good mom, Kathryn. (Good for dfs, too!)

Dgs is a little puny tonight, too. They've all been kinda fighting off a virus since Tgiving week. DS had it first, then dgs. They said they kept thinking, while they were visiting w/ddil's family last week, "If he's not better when we get home, we'll take him to the doctor." Then they got home and the cough disappeared totally for 48 hours. THEN... it returned in the night. So they thought they'd better get him checked out before it developed into something worse. But the doctor did not prescribe anything for him -- which I sorta appreciate. I know some doctors are maybe TOO quick to give antibiotics. We saw dgs for a few minutes tonight, and he grinned at us and seemed generally okay, but he was coughing a little. Ddil called in sick herself @ the hospital... and I always worry that she's overdoing her sick time... but ds says she's not in any trouble, so I'll have to trust them on that. It's their business, anyway. They know how much $ they have (or don't have).

My day was just... ugh.
I think the full moon may be to blame. Kids were certainly extra-hyper today.
And Aunt Flo arrived in full force...
And there is just no time no time no time to get ANYTHING done!!! Of course, I guess if I'd sign off the computer, I could do better, right?

Guess I'll try to say good night.

Tomorrow -- college town for basketball as soon as I get out of school, so I'll see y'all Saturday!