Focus and Reality Monday

[Elizabeth]

Hi again! I am almost ready to leave payroll, where I have been reading and making notes on documents. Still have many more to go. I had a TERRIBLE Chinese lunch, or tried to anyway. Mostly ate the rice. Soup was sort of ok too. Mongolian beef was DREADFUL! I have made and printed my maidwork for the week and need to get started tonight.

I realized there are plenty more things I hope to get done tonight: cook, dye yarn, insurance paperwork, ceiling paint, LOLs.

I wish I could get to this site from home, I could mark my progress and be accountable to someone. Wish I knew why the site decided to block me. See you tomorrow!

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Because of my church background, I've always celebrated Thanksgiving on the Sunday (with church, then family dinner) so we did that yesterday. Today is usually quiet but today it is dead because I'm so exhausted.

Managed to finish s2s by 2! I've tidied upstairs, cleaned my bathroom, swapped out the towels, put away the load of laundry from Saturday, started a load for today (which is now folded and waiting for me to put it away), opened 2 weeks of mail, emailed photos of some mail to ds, put away my preaching stuff from the past few weeks (20 days until my next service!) and helped dh make dinner for tonight and tomorrow night.

Still on my to-do list for today: Vacuum and dust bedroom level (a 30 minute chore), enter receipts into Quicken (probably a 45 minute job), pay bills (maybe 20 minutes), put away the laundry (2 minutes) and knee physio (did some biking earlier and will do a full workout so that's another 30 minutes.)

The kitchen also needs cleaning up (30 minutes tops.)

My knee hurts a lot so walking around has been awkward today. If I march, it doesn't hurt to walk. Otherwise, just walking hurts a lot. Very strange, obviously I need to work on more strengthening exercises.

Ds is at surf camp and having great fun. The camp posted 179 pictures from yesterday's class and so I can see that ds got up succesfully at least twice. I think it is great that the company has a photographer on the beach taking so many photos of the group. It really does help me miss him less when I'm so happy for him and can see he's having such a great time.

[Twins' Mom]

I was home again around 7 - fed ddogs and let them outside and talked to next door neighbors a little. Walk w ddogs and have eaten - ok for WW.

Tax return is done, I hope. Dh will take a look at it when he gets home later and I'll get the form to work tomorrow so they can e-file. Whew.

[lucylee]

Hello, everyone!!!
I am posting quickly again tonight, while dgs naps.

The library luncheon thing went really well. I'm glad I went. Most of the attendees were ladies approx. dmom's age, but that was okay.

Since I got home, I've paid some bills, e-mailed back & forth w/church secretary re: ds/family picture for the church directory, tried to call dmom a couple of times but got no answer, decided it is much too late now to try to go out there, went w/dh & dgs to visit dmil, got her supper, ate supper... and now I would really enjoy a nap, and/or time to start reading one of my new books.

DGS will not nap long, though, I suspect.

Hmmm... Twins makes me think (hope) dmom got her tax stuff to her accountant today. Maybe that's wehre she was.

So glad to hear ds is doing well, Kathryn, and that you are able to keep up with him so well, electronically!
Happy Thanksgiving!

Waving to everyone! Hope y'all have a good evening.

[Harmony]

One of the dreaded projects is done. I guess. DH is waiting for a telephone call tomorrow about this matter. The other is part-way done. I must go out into garage storage again and look for another bag of receipts. I found the immediate ones I needed. I have decided to do something else with that year's receipts and pull out the ones that were for our other house. And I guess copy them, they are fading. So far, 1 part of that year and the whole year before that is missing. Boy I'm glad I already did all this for this house. It's all for tax verification. I sure wish we didn't have to worry about the tax thing.

Thinking about taxes, Twins, I heard on the news that with the gov't shut down, people filing late and expecting refunds will be waiting. But you probably already knew that.

Dining room table is half filled with papers. Just after I got it all cleaned off yesterday.

Elizabeth, do the Mods know why you are blocked from this site from home?

[CathyS]

Happy Thanksgiving Kathryn!

[CathyS]

Decided to wash all the stuff in the drawers as I was sorting it all anyways.

A couple of pairs of socks, a new/never worn bra and some shorts went on the donation pile as well.

Mike got more of his stuff sorted.

I'm treating the fact that he is going on a cruise as both of us actually going. After seeing my dad yesterday, I think the time he has left is even shorter than we had all hoped.

I have a nice, clean smelling pile of socks and underwear to put away. The bras and swimsuits are all hanging in the bathroom to dry.

Total of 4 loads of laundry done today. Work paperwork is partially done.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

By any chance does Elizabeth have a Windows 8 computer? That seems to be Dee's problem - a setting in Windows 8 that blocks posting on this site. We are running a very old version of phpBB (and can't upgrade) so that might also be an issue. There are security issues with older versions of software and perhaps Win8 is 'helping' keep the user secure by blocking them from posting on our site.

I've done the vacuuming. I'm also 'done' with my vacuum. It is a VERY good one, a Tri Star, but 1) it weighs a ton, 2) the wands don't fit properly (when I replace the hose, it's tubes don't mess with my wands well) and 3) the power head (not Tri-Star brand because I bought this refurbished) is dying. I've maintained the power head but it needs at least a new belt and a new brush because tonight it had great trouble picking up threads and hairs from my carpet. And the rubber bumper is held on with duct tape. Probably it is just OLD (it is 12 years old and a BEAM brand, not Tri Star.)

Tonight, the hose kept coming off. In two minutes it came off once at the wand end, once at the vacuum end, and again at the wand end. I had it. I'm tired and every time I vacuum it is a HUGE fight with it.

The other issue, which I've lived with for the 12 years I've had it, is that it has two wands - one with the attached power head, and one with the floor attachment. I had to buy a second wand because attaching and detaching the power head is tricky. I was used to Sears vacuums where switching between hardwood and carpet ends was a cinch. The second wand helped but it is more to store and carry and adds to the awkwardness of moving the dang thing from floor to floor. Since I have 4 levels there is a lot of moving from floor to floor in this house.

This is where my "can't buy anything new" philosophy sucks, sucks, sucks (pun unintended) because I know I can put about $150 into the vacuum and it will work well. Dh responded to my yelling by assuring me the hose to vacuum connection is now fixed (apparently it was bent and not connecting properly) but I just don't know if I can put up with it any longer. The weight is a big issue.

I want a Dyson. I know people (IRL and I think here) who have them and love them. But I'v invested in this 'tank' (the actual vacuum part is almost indestructible.) I paid just $50 less for it, used, than a new Sears vacuum would cost but it still works really, really well when the power head is functioning and I'm not fighting with the hose.

The place I bought it sells Dyson so I'll go in and see if they'll trade-in this one for a Dyson (plus a ton of cash.) I should be able to sell this one for $100 so I'm hoping they'll offer me something in trade for it.

In the meantime, I still have physio to do and the bill paying and quicken updating.

Dang, I just looked on the US Ama zon site and note the same vacuum sells for $200 less than in Canada. Now I have moral dilemma (plus a speed one - I don't have a passport so I can't pick up the vacuum from the US until my new vacuum arrives in 10 days.)

[Harriet]

No chance to CUOP further than last evening, so don't let me offend anyone, please, if something profound was posted today! I hope to CUOP by tomorrow.

Sunday was so eventful I never even got here. Church was extremely social. On the way home I was thinking, so happy the social aspect of the day is over. But in our driveway was HRH's mother's car. She and HRH's dstepdad (who is doing so poorly with cognitive ability) were here to visit. After visiting with them for a while, the phone rang and HRH's brother said that dLittleNeice had been talking about visiting Aunt Harriet all day, but he knew he should wait until after church. I said, "Come on, your mom is already here!" So he had an impromptu visit with his mother and stepdad, too. Then the phone rang and ds wanted to bring my green-eyed boy over, so that worked out fine, with a playmate already here. HRH's mother couldn't wait on them but took dstepdad on home. We had a rousing playtime-for-toddlers home for a while. The menfolk went out for ice cream and dd and I played until they got back, then we all had ice cream treats.

DLittleNeice is so loving, hopping into my lap and hugging me spontaneously. While she is here, though, my green-eyed boy doesn't know I exist! He follows her around like a puppy, obeying every instruction she gives. But he did very much want me to hold him near the end of the visit, and also happily went to his Grandpa to be carried, too. We were glad we didn't stay invisible the whole time!

After everyone was gone, I fell into bed and napped my usual social-ed out nap.

Today was a lot of estate work. Laundry. Errands. So much seems to pile up for Mondays lately. Anyway, perhaps normalcy can return tomorrow.

[Nancy]

I have gotten 95% of the first coat of paint on the I side of the coop. Yea for that progres. I left the light onto keep it warm with the treble light inside, the same time the chicken light above the roost was on he p.m.
Dinner iscdonr. h? Was unable to do errands bc of the columbas day hoilday. I have s2s-ed and am resting my back tweaked it a bit.