SHEs Organized

Made myself lunch and the smoke alarm decided to go off at least 5 or 6 times. Changed to another burner after the first time the smoke alarm went off, but it continued to go off...

I need to clean the burner things on the stove, don't I?

So... how do you clean those? I haven't done it in many years. The stove is just over a year old. I used to have foil on the older stove and I would just replace the foil as needed.

I am making French Onion Soup for tomorrow's lunch. Started out with about 8 cups of sliced onions and I'm trying to get them to caramelize. I'm going really slow so I don't burn them as I usually do at home. They are gold now but I want them copper.

This afternoon we are going to DGD#6's soccer game and then her ice show. We probably won't be home until about 10. LONG DAY!!

We will be flying home on Tuesday. A couple days later than I wanted - but there are no seats on Sunday or Monday.

TTFN

Break time. Two hours to the border and then grocery shopping before the thirty minutes home. Sermon is at the polishing stage so I will work on prayers and children time next.

We'll eat dinner at the border.

A big tada to report: plucked my chin today! After not attending to that for over a week, I looked like a witch! Some of you are old enough to understand this.

The shredder is getting a workout today!

I use a basket system for filing. and I've started in on the paperwork. I have baskets with stickers on one end stating what year is in the basket. I have them lined up on the coffee table from 2007 to 2013. I feel like I am accomplishing something with this set up today based on how much is getting shredded.

The stovetop awaits.

I need help with something and I'm hoping that someone here can help me deal with this.

My MIL has been showing signs of dementia/Alzheimer's. It's been very slow, but Mike and I have known for more than 2 years that it is creeping up.

We went on a cruise with my inlaws in November. She was the worst that I had noticed. Probably because we were with them constantly for 3 weeks. She kept saying things had been stolen from their cabin. MIke would find everything for her. She would cry for no reason... etc...

She has called me twice today. The first time wasn't so bad. The second was a heart-stopper and thankfully a lie.
She was weeping and telling me that "he's dead". I asked her if there was someone there that I could talk to. Thankfully my FIL came in from outside and isn't dead. I spoke to my FIL and told him about the earlier phone call just in case he didn't know.

He says she has a doctor's appointment in a month. I told him that he needs to call her doctor and go talk to the doctor himself ASAP.

Mike will be home Tuesday night and I will have to tell him about these 2 calls. This is something that we have been dreading and now it's here.

Any suggestions at this point would be appreciated. I'm tempted to turn the ringer off on the phone.

Elly - I'm old enough to totally understand!!

CathyS - YGG! I mostly just use dish cloth to wipe the stove top. If I do it every time I wash dishes (3-4 times daily), then it stays clean. If I let it go, I sometimes use a razor blade to scrape the burnt stuff loose, then let the rest soak before wiping it off.

((((Dove)))) Bless your heart. I miss Indiana so much too. I admired her immensely. I had to stop watching many (most?) TV shows and news channels because it was just too depressing. I get addicted to a story and want to know all the details. It upsets me to even watch the commercials where organizations are showing children in foreign countries that need us to send money.

I've mowed the yard until the mower ran out of gas. We haven't got used to the amount of gas this new mower takes. It has double gas tanks so it gets filled up at the gas station when we haul it on trailer (to mow MPB). We are going to have to adjust our mowing/filling ratio.

It takes me right at an hour to hand water the vegetable beds. I am sooooo looking forward to having the irrigation system done. I am having a huge learning curve at the beginning of this project, but am hopeful that I have the bare basic skills and knowledge to do it now. I feel so creative when i start putting pipes and fittings together. I can now cut the PVC pipe (using a ratchet cutter). I tried using DH dremel but it was too powerful for me to hang on to, so I got a battery powered dremel for me to use. It is much lighter weight and easier to hold. I'm now developing a template to help in drilling the holes 4" apart at 90 degree angles. I have a good supply of valve cut-offs, T's, couplings and caps and I know how to assemble them. I am having a ball figuring all this stuff out. DH offered several times to build the irrigation system for me, but I want to do it myself. There is something about taking a bunch of pieces and assembling them together that is fascinating to me. Similar to what I feel like when making a quilt!

Cathy: btdt, no immediate advice, except to give some thought to finances and what sort of home you want for her within the budget. Waiting lists are long so the sooner you get her judged ready for a home, the better. Mom got into her spot by jumping to the top of the list. She needed surgery and the bowel prep was so difficult for someone with dementia that she went into the home pre-operation so the staff there could do the prep. We were lucky, we got the best choice for us (great home, locked dementia wing, halfway between our house and Dad's so it was convenient for both of us to visit her.)

We are home. The last hour or so was rough. The wal mart at the border isn't a Super one so didn't have the bakery cupcakes. The grocery store across the way was expensive. So I ended up buying frosting and mini-cupcake foil liners and baked up some from a mix when I got home for less than half the cost. More time though. They are baked and I'll frost in the morning.

I got frustrated having to line up at two cashes (and it was busy so there were lineups in both places. I was anxious to get home and so close, just 30 minutes away, but we spent over 10 minutes in lineups alone. I did remember to ask what else dh needed for his trip and got the water purification tablets and Wet-Ones for when he's on the trail. If he can borrow ds's arm sleeves, he won't have to go shopping tomorrow. I'll need fresh veggies (the US store's prices are 2x home and I just couldn't bear to pay that much extra.)

Dh wants to go to bed. Ds is using the spare bed. Dh wants to unpack (and pack for Peru) in there. Dh is upset. (Ds isn't home tonight because he's at dfs's wedding.)

Dh was upset that there was a stack of frozen food dishes left on the kitchen table. (I figure ds didn't know if they were recycle or garbage so left them out to ask.) The kitchen was fairly good. It is better now since I swiped up while the cupcakes baked.

Theres a load of laundry on now. I need the t-shirt for church tomorrow. Don't have a backup plan so am doing laundry.

Printed off the service. Will read that through now. And get the candles for the cupcakes.

Kathryn did the 5.1 earthquake in your area affect anything at your place?

Thanks for the info. We would want something very close to FIL because he is having problems driving. They are both going to be 84 soon.

The burner things never got cleaned. Paperwork got most of my attention after the fish tank lights came on.

Tomoorow will be more of the same as today with one exception. The ringer on the phone is off and so is the answering machine. My dad and my daughter both know the phone is off and why.