Wednesday What if.....

[Lilac]

Just minutes before 2 our insurance gal called. She is mailing the things we need to sign, plus new insurance cards for the vehicles. I will need to send 4 separate checks to pay everything in full. I also need to send a copy of the bill of sale on the motorhome. Dh will need to take pictures of it and email them to her. Once she cancels all the vehicle policies, she will send us paperwork to sign to get our refunds. I just paid for the 3 cars and motorhome in September. The 2 motorcycle are due in April. It will be nice having them all renew at the same time. The only odd payment will be for antique pickup. It's a 1971 and hard for me to believe it is an antique. It renews in July. I'm glad this is settled.

Harmony, have a safe and relaxing trip!

[Twins' Mom]

FF, I think that's Pepper in Helia's icon thingy!

I got through what I had to do today. I decided not to walk the dogs this morning and promised them a later walk and took off for neighboring rural county. Probably wasn't there 15 min, but I think they will be able to start the 30 days running so I can get court approval. I was on my way back from court house when JCC called to remind me that I needed to pick up dmom's meals there by noon - and it was already 11:20. I knew they were closing early but didn't realize they were closing at noon - so went there straightaway and picked up meals, then on to temple. Had to sign cks there, then looked over Hanukah decorations as I am "coordinating" the dinner with another individual. Discussion of food, et al with office manager, then finally home where I napped. I didn't need the nap as much as I just needed downtime without "having" to do anything.

I need to put my shoes on and walk ddogs...only 2900 steps for the day so far.

[lucylee]

Oh my word... if my life were a movie, I would definitely NOT want to be filmed sitting in my housecoat at 3:00 pm. * sheesh * But actually, I had a LOT of trouble getting to sleep last night and if I have had a unusually slow start today (even for me!), I think I've earned it. I wasn't really worried about ds and family being on the road all night, but I was expecting a "safely arrived" message, and it came around 4:30. Of course, after we read the morning (middle of the night) paper, and watched an episode of Andy Griffith, we had barely turned off the tv at 4:00 a.m., so you know...

Ooohhh, (((Lilac))) -- I do hope you get the insurarnce snafu straightened out soon!

And (((BIG HUGS))) for (((Twins))) too... I saw where yesterday was kinda nerve-wracking, and now you've got to deal with all this courthouse stuff again... * sigh * This too shall pass... -- but I know you're thinking NOW would be a good time!

So glad you got your toilet repaired, LadyM! That IS cheap for a plumber. Y'all better hang on to that man! Also at LO's verdict on having a sister. Reminds me of the day ds (age 6, 7?) came home from visiting w/dbil's family and new dnephew. His words were, "Babies are hard work!"
Hoping and praying sooo much that dd arrives tomorrow and all goes just as well with her and dgs17, and the rest of you, as it has with dgd so far!
Oh -- and certainly tell dgs that around here, kids take the ACT half a dozen times sometimes. Definitely do NOT let him get discouaged if his first score is less than he hoped. Just consider it practice and then he'll know so much more what to expect the second time.

Waving to EVERYONE...
Today's PODA --
* make jello/cool whip thing
* exercise
* watch The Affair from Sunday

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Feline: Pepper and Maia are both dogs. That's Pepper in Helia's avatar. Maia probably wouldn't sit still for a photo! Although that's not quite fair, I met her when she was still a puppy. My only shots of her are blurry! (And while she was attacking my shoelaces!)

I'm making progress on paperwork. Two companies have been called and new credit card numbers given. Another pile of paper was added to the recycle bin and I've done a little bit of filing. Still have more to do but will go get the mail first.

We leave in about 90 minutes for dinner. Since I'm running errands all evening, I've started a list, have the cart by the door (I'll have purchases) and the Soda Stream cylinder I'm replacing in the cart. I keep adding to the shopping list as I work around and think of things (like tissues.)

[helia]

LOL! Yes, FF, Kathryn and Twins are right. Pepper and Maia are our Labrador Retrievers. Pepper is my icon. That photo was taken long before Maia was on the scene, but Kathryn has a point - it would be hard to get Maia to sit still for a photo even now. . .Pepper is black and Maia is yellow.

Hmmm..... Where did we get the name Maia? We'd heard it before. It is Greek, I believe - I just did a quick look and I think Maia was a Greek goddess. According to one website, Maia means "great, mother." I think Maia was the mother of Hermes.

Well, I can't have such a slow start to a day and expect to get my list done. *sigh* But I think a slow start was good for me today.

More done:
- lunch
- Target run
- unloaded car
- rented a video from Redbox -- but the nearest pick up for this video is 9 miles away.
- took out bathroom garbage in 2 bathrooms
- brought in the mail
- did a quick go through of the last 3 days of mail; took out clear junk mail and put magazines, catalogs, and coupons we might use in their respective places
- talked on the phone to dfriend, Tori's mom. They'll drop her off in 2-3 hours.

Next:
- find clean sheets for ds
- gather and start laundry
- reclaim the kitchen

[FelineFriend]

Helia & Everyone , Thanks for telling me "who" Pepper and Maia are! Also, the meaning of Maia's name is beautiful, too. Wow. It'd make a good short story character's name, who is actually that "type" of person, and great mother, too. I feel a Mother's Day story coming on!!!!! I'll research more on the name. Also, I have used other Greek gods' names, to describe a character in a title, then write a story about the current-day person, with that name. It's fun to research, to learn more, and explore the imagination.

So far today, we've done this:
- I put T. P. around in the 2 bathrooms & powder room, in the cabinets,
- I stripped the eating bar, cleaned it,
- I redecorated in the bunny room,
- I tidied up 2 great room end tables,
- I put a folded blanket, in the great room, away into the linen cupboard,
- DH took the mail, garbage/recycle up,
- DH dumped trash & I did my small office trash,
- DH scrubbed toilets; I cleaned the outer powder room toilet,
- We're currently watching Matt Damon in the movie, "We Bought a Zoo," with commercials, for working more,
- I cleaned the 2 bathrooms & powder room counters & sinks,
- I put away books, which were too many in a stack, on my great room end table,
- DH vacuumed & dusted,
- I ran scans & journaled; then made some calendar reminders,
- I dust mopped every fir floor in the house, except the tile bathrooms & entry,
- I started jeans & dark LOL washing,
- I threw out 2 receipts,
- DH sorted the mail; 1 bill, 1 envelope of Value Pack coupons ONLY,
- I ate a cheese stick & took 1 Naproxen for a 99.5* fever. Don't know why I have one. Will "try" to take things slower for the rest of the day now,

Currently:
- DH has dusted the great room & is now cleaning out the glass shelves & mirror backing, in the dining room china cabinet,
- I'll put another extra blanket away, from the MBR, which is folded on our hope chest,
- I'll email people to wish them on having a Happy Thanksgiving,

I'll try to:
- Read the rest of a book, to loan to DD. I think she'll like it. It's called, "The Four Agreements - A Toltec Wisdom Book," bu Don Miguel Ruiz.
- Get out a gift bag, to put additional books into, to loan to DD, to read.
- Work on titles for index cards, start outlines, getting the remainder of 2015 - March 2016 writing organized.

My cards are all ready to ship out on December 1, with the 4 mailers of hand-made gifts I've made for 4 friends & 1 friend's down syndrome DD, that day, too. I'll be able to read on stories in the magazines I write for, the magazines I am TRYING to write for, and magazines I WANT to write for! There's so much sitting involved in studying the markets for writing. Sometimes I put my reading on a stand, on the eating bar, turn on the pendant lights, and slowly march in place or do a slow walk in place, as I read, so I'm moving, not sitting on my fanny, and it works out great for me. Believe it or not- I can work up a good sweat, too!

Our Dneighbor called to "see" if it's glass recycle day or not. It is, but we only had 2 things, so we didn't put ours out. Dneighbor accidentally threw away his 2014 schedule, on recycling days, but he DID save the 2015 one, which was in the last bill!

Have a great afternoon, Everybody! I think I'll go do some relaxing. I was a bit disappointed because I ordered a Playtex 18-Hour bra on sale, on the 20th. It was 35 miles away, 2 days ago, so didn't arrive today. It must still be in the P. O. here, so it'll probably be here on Friday instead. I'll wait until Monday, if it's not arrived by then, YET, I'll notify the store I ordered it from. It was their last day of the sale, they're a mall store here locally, and at their site, it was only 1.5 HOURS to go before the sale was over! The mall store was closed IRL, so that was out, so I ordered it. Luckily, I found a different 18-hour bra, in my "Bra Arsenal", so I'm wearing it, it's comfy and supportive. I'm very pleased, because I had rotator cuff surgery on 11-9-10, so wearing straps on bras, on my shoulders has been uncomfortable. I'm thrilled I can wear normal bras now!

[Elizabeth]

Hello again! I have cleared two tasks off my payroll list. None off my home list, because I am not there! The task list here is called a backlog, but I hate that term because it makes us sound behind. As soon as a task is defined, it goes in backlog! It may be industry standard, I don't now.

helia: I like your ACT conversion formula, it puts me off the charts! My ACT scores were helped by two things: those types of tests are biased towards kids who love crosswords, and the reading comprehension part used paragraphs about astronomy, at the time, an obsession going back to 1st grade.

FelineFriend: Here are some names for you, all cats. Laia (rhymes with Maia) derives its pronunciation and meaning from 'financial liability', which she was. Briggs and Stratton, currently residing in my house, are named for a company that makes lawn mower (and other) motors, because their purr motors are always on. The names I would like to use for a pair of black tomcats, that are resoundingly hated by everyone in my animal org: Thanthalteresco and Rashaverak, from Childhood's End by either Arthur C Clarke or Clifford D Simak, can't remember which.

[Nancy]

Ex is done just finished my ex bike time. Got a nap in.
We have some fog today. The sun came out for a bit.
Watching the last eposoide of a show I had been enjoying.
Trying to decde if / when to make banana pudding layered with vanilla wafers.

[Lilac]

I have all the under the bed size boxes of ornaments out of their 11 month home. They are upstairs in the Raggedy Ann's bedroom. I have the tree in the basement family room. Dh will have to bring all the pieces upstairs when he's ready. I couldn't find the screws that hold the stand steady so I was looking in some boxes and found a note that I need at least 250 lights for the tree, so need to buy 50 more. The tree is LED lit and so my lighted Hallmark ornaments won't work, so I put extra lights on, that are not LED, so I can have my lit ornaments. I looked in the large tree bag and found the screws in a plastic bag. I should have known that I would have done that. So since I need to buy 50 extra lights, I went to WM and bought 3 strings of 100. That way if I don't run across those lights before I am ready to decorate the tree, it won't hold me up.

I went to WM at 5:30 and there were checkers everywhere just waiting for customers. That is a sight that I never see and I know I won't again, until at least after Christmas. There are 34 registers and usually there are 10 at the most open, when I am there.

The girls and I have talked about maybe going shopping late, late tomorrow night, but then again we may not. Anytime I go with them for Black Friday sales, I go with no expectations. If they find something for one of their family members, I buy it. Otherwise, I just go with the flow and don't get upset about the crowds. By myself I would be irritated.

Guess I better eat some supper and get started on my food. The crescent rolls that I make, the dough has to be refrigerated overnight, so I will mix up 2 bowls of it. In the morning, I will roll them out, let them rise and then bake them. The dessert I am making has a crust, so I will make and bake those tonight. In the morning, I will fix the 2 layers for each them. Then I can work on the other things.

Dd2 is so excited about making a turkey dinner. She called first thing this morning and I haven't heard from her again. Dd1 did the same thing. She will have to call at some point because she will need to come and get the turkey breast that I bought and have thawing in the sink.

I have been busy all day but didn't get as much done as I had hoped. I just don't work at full speed anymore.

[Lady Maverick]

Thanks for the ACT information! Interesting about past scores compared to now. I don't know if DGS17 has heard about DSon ACT score. I'm not telling DGS17 now because I don't want him to feel like he needs to compete with anyone. No pressure - just do your best and it will be A-OKay!

NOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooo. That was what was going through my mind when DGD3 decided to throw a wall-eyed hissy fit in the grocery store this evening. I wasn't expecting it. She was in a good mood charming everyone she saw. We had just finished checking out and I had just taken her out of the grocery cart ....which means I had to lift her 40+lbs up over my head so she could pull her legs out of the holes. When I put DGD3 on the floor she took off for a candy display and demand some. I showed her the bags I was holding and reminded her that we had bought her a treat. She reacted with screaming and falling to the floor. Outwardly I remained calm and cool. I quietly explained to DGD3 that we were not going to act this way. Inwardly I was telling myself this can't be happening...... NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! While holding 3 grocery sacks in one hand (about 20lbs). I picked up DGD3 from the floor because she was blocking the entrance and there was a line of people waiting. Oh yeah. How much worse can it be...... We had no less than 20-30 people watching us. One of the people watching the whole episode asked me if I was a Super Nana. I just smiled and said "Gotta love a 3 year with a mind of her own" and left the store with her kicking and screaming. Once we got outside the store she immediately calmed down and returned to her happy smiling self. Taking care of little ones is NOT for the faint of heart!

DH and LO went to church. I stayed home with DGD3 because the night air chokes her up. I admit to be a lazy Nana.....I need a break. I turned the TV to a cartoon and she is happily watching it.

DD txt that she isn't coming the family Thanksgiving tomorrow. She said she would come get DGD3 on Saturday.