Working Wednesday

[Twins' Mom]

Our little village is busy today!

Congrats, LadyM, on focusing on your rounds of three! You've made a lot happen today in small bites. When is last day of school for dd14? Will ds be done at that point also, or is he already done?

While you were away, Costumelady, I became the chair of our Jewish congregation's cemetery. The guy who was appointed chair almost a year ago really hasn't followed up on a lot of maintenance issues and I made a lot of noise, and finally indicated that I would chair it if he resigned. I honestly think he's having memory and/or health issues. So he was persuaded and here I am. There's a lot IMHO that needs to be done - I've complained about sunken graves needing to be backfilled and maintenance issues since last August. I was away at the beach, tho, week before last, and I'll be away next week, so I'm trying to get things moving along still.

Rain has started here Harriet, but is light and spotty this afternoon. We have solid rain chances, tho, through next Monday so I'm hoping we'll have enough to break our drought. I have a small planter by the garage that I'd like to get filled, but decided to defer until I was back home. I had to look up the Revolutionary war connection with your area to see what happened. And by now the sun is back out.

Nancy, I love history but rarely actually sit and watch TV - I usually am reading nonfiction, often history or biographies.

After Costumelady and Mystery mentioned the cold, I had to look up my Monday destination. It's much cooler there than here. Last year this conference was in Louisville and it was unseasonably cold and we were all freezing in the host hotel's A/C. (Reminder to pack a jacket and to dress more warmly than I think I need to.)

Cathy, WTG on those litter boxes. I'm glad your dh's BS is better today - I'm sure he feels better. It's lovely to wake with windows wide open and birds chirping. I've been using an app to ID our local birds - it records the sound and tells you what's singing that sweet song!

Body work was a success - he worked on my neck a lot. Have been having issues there. Dh is launched to bowling and evening is quiet for now. I started a load of laundry that will hang to dry. Dog was just walked. Not sure what I'm doing next.

[Ramblinrose]

Costumelady…

You can find many chair yoga or exercise classes on YouTube just sitting in the chair. Some even use light weights. We have a chair class every Wednesday. Some of use sit in chairs and some stand.

Our oldest member is 92 and comes to all of classes.

PaulEugene is one of the people we use for our classes. I love the guy. The videos very in length summer 20 minute summer 45 but most what we do is 35 or 30

[Nancy]

I did wash up the plates from my cooking adventures
and my lunch earlier on the deck glad for that work.

DD called and checked in. She is well.

I watered the back lawn at sunset it was lovely.

[Lady Maverick]

Those done.

DS17 work boots came apart today. ARgh. I just looked when purchased (March 26th) so this should not be happening. They are Red Wing boots (about $400) which are supposed to be good quality. DS17 & GF16 are going to the city to see if the RW store will honor the warranty on the boots and replace them.

Tomorrow is the LAST day of school for both teens. I am greatly relieved to have this dual homeschool & public school year behind us.

I'm trying to decide if I want to quit for the day and just relax. I still have plenty of energy so I'll do one more round and then decide.

Next up -
** Research RMD (Required Minimum Distribution). DH is 73 and I think it is a law that we have to withdraw a percentage of his account or be penalized. I should have talked with financial advisor about this yesterday. Why didn't he bring this up? Maybe I'm confused and it isn't so? I want to learn more before I contact him with my questions.
** Finalize decision on bank choice. We have 4 banks within 20 miles. I already have accounts in 2 of those banks so I don't want to open another account in those. One of the banks is super small and I'm not sure they even have online...surely they do? I've agreed that we will go open a checking account for DD14 tomorrow after school.
** Continue putting mulch in garden beds. I only have 1/2 bale of wheat straw hay left so this job is almost done.

[Costumelady]

twins, always plan like it is the dead of winter at a conference center in warm weather -they freeze you out. Louisville is only 2 hours from us.

Lady M, way to go on a successful school year. They don't make things like they used to but failing in less than 3 months is terrible for that expensive of a work boot unless he is just really hard on shoes.

I have gotten next to nothing done, dealing with this stupid hotwater heater. The guy came and wanted 4000 to replace it, hubby is doing research and may try to fix it himself. He fixed our fridge after a repairman came 3 times and couldn't fix it. He has fixed our washer, our dryer, our dishwasher. Why not a water heater. I do have a guy coming in the morning to give us an estimate for installing and hauling away, I found a 12 year warranty one at Lowe's for 890 that we can get as early as tomorrow. Cold showers for a couple of days, I can shower at the Y as I belong there. The boys get to take cold showers or see if they can shower at one of their friend's houses.

Pizza is here.

[CathyS]

I had a fabulous afternoon siesta and then I sat beside dh and watched the Blue Jays

We had a BBQed steak and I made a packet of onions and potatoes sliced thickly with some oil and butter, garlic powder, onion powder and black pepper.

Because of the rain we had last night and an overcast, cool day today, dh decided we didn't have to water our gardens tonight.

Got some texts from dsil. MIL got moved to another place in the hospital and today they checked her bladder. I think they did an MRI. They had already checked her kidneys for stones so that was an ultrasound or an x ray. (Dsil wasn't there and DMIL is confused and tired.)

[Lady Maverick]

Cathy - your meal sounds delicious!

CostumeLady - your DH has some skills!

We had our water heater replaced in Oct 2025. It was $1600 but that price also included replacing a water line in the attic that was leaking. The water line & HWH were two separate issues but he didn't break apart what each one cost. We had the plumber & 3 helpers here working for several hours so I thought it was reasonable and didn't question it.

Red Wing are going to honor the warranty and have ordered another pair of boots for DS17. What is he suppose to do until the boots arrive? >>>shrugging shoulders<<< Maybe duct tape will hold the boots together for a few days until the new ones arrive? He isn't allowed to wear anything except steel toe boots, but I'm not sure about the policy of using duct tape.

I sent an email to finacial advisor with my RMD questions.

Bank has been selected.

I had to stop mulching in the garden because the mockingbird parents were throwing a fit. They are highly protective of their baby birds in the nest. I didn't want to continue to upset them so I stopped.

That's a wrap for today. I'm going to watch a little of the Poldark series before going to bed.

[Lady Maverick]

Sharing a memory.....at one time in my life I worked as a scheduler for repairs on federal property. When we had to replace a water heater, that meant I had to schedule several different crews in sequence.
#1 - gas crew to turn the gas off to HWH
#2 - metal crew to remove vent from HWH
#3 - plumbers to replace the HWH
#4 - metal crew to attach vent to HWH and verify it was properly vented
#5 - gas crew to turn gas back on and light the HWH and any other gas appliances affect by the gas being off.
#6 - inspector
I always thought that was total overkill for a simple water heater replacement. IMHO, sometimes our federal government rules are head scratchers.

Sweet dreams.

[Harriet]

Costumelady, this is a liquid and may be similar. A "soil penetrant", non toxic, good for aeration and drainage, in that it helps the soil hold moisture better. It keeps the soil in containers from pulling away from the sides of the container and becoming hardened, not taking up water.

I potted up a nice coir-lined basket with a water reservoir in the middle bottom. (cheap - these are just a low saucer with a grid over it) Decided two of the plants would be okay with about the same amount of sunlight and planted them together.

As I finished, I heard a car coming in the driveway and figured, yeah, right, NOW someone delivers the pots. I waved and went through to the back to meet the person.

Yipes, it was my dmother-in-law, lol. Also, HRH's dear uncle and dcousin as well. HRH wasn't even going out but glanced out the window and whoosh, he was out to his uncle's side, helping him navigate his way into the house with his walker-seat.

We had a very nice visit - they had tried to call me, but I was outside without a phone. I was pleased, frankly, that at one point, when dear uncle asked cousin to show HRH a photo of he and dmil's grandparents for the first time, that dmil backed him up and just told a denying dcousin it was true that HRH had never met or seen them. I hope dcousin reflects on that moment and realizes she and all the other cousins had a relationship HRH was unable to have. When cousins are together, they all simply forget, chatting about family times and ignoring that HRH is sitting there with no idea what they are talking about. Sorry, rant over.

[lucylee]

CostumeLady -- welcome home! I bet it IS work to get back to normal after the trip you've been on -- I've never been gone more than a week at a time, and I always felt like I needed a vacation from my vacation when I got back home! I hope you get over the cold soon.
Oh -- chair yoga is done all in the chair. At 64, I'm the youngest one there. It's VERY low key, but it does provide a good stretching exercise and it is very relaxing. I almost fall asleep sometimes in the last part when we are supposed to just sit comfortably and relax.
(Rose, our oldest member is 90, I think, and she is amazing. I certainly hope I can be as active as her when (if) I love to be 90. Another one is 81, but she had a heart attack a few months ago * NOT related to yoga class * and she hasn't been able to come back yet. We had another lady who might have been older than her, but she had hip replacement recently and she hasn't been back either, and another probably in her 80s. Three others are in their 70s, I think. We have a lady who teaches the class in person, a young woman who grew up in Germany and married an American.)

I have not worked this Wednesday. I took DGD home, went to yoga, then got the mail.
* A little excitement at the post office! A car almost slammed into a truck stopped at the stop sign right in front of the post office. A young girl was driving the car. She slammed on her brakes and swerved into the yard beside the street -- then slammed into a brick wall that surrounds the next house! THEN... she backed up, leaving a lot of the front bumper and headlights, etc, right there in the grass, and she drove away, with something dragging along making an awful noise. The lady in the first house came out and was on the phone with someone -- I assumed the police -- and she and I talked for a little while, but no police ever came by to get a statement from any of us. Another lady drove up and showed us she had a picture of the tag number, but I don't know if she ever got it to anyone who could use it. I don't think the brick was damaged, but I don't know how the girl managed to drive away. Just realized, I don't think airbags were enacted. The car didn't look too old; surely it had airbags. Anyway -- no idea whether she was just distracted or under the influence of something, or what caused it. My granddaddy laid those brick.

DGS called and wanted to know if he could come spend the night. SMH. He and I ate at the local bar-b-que restaurant and when we got home we played a baseball game with cards -- you set your lineup by the players' stats and roll dice to see what kind of hit they get. It's pretty accurate -- strong hitters are more likely to get extra base hits and weak hitters are more likely to strike out. (I won, BTW.)

Our rain will get here tomorrow, and from the looks of the weather report, it will be here to stay. The next seven days had at least 40%. Headed your way too, Twins. (And Harriet.)

Cathy, I hope your dmil feels better soon!

Nancy, that is so aggravating when a computer isn't working right! Good luck!

Congratulations to DD, LadyM! And yes... hot crusty cornbread... (I don't even need butter!) and conversation with a grandson. I already know I'm going to miss my dgs when he gets older. BUT -- DS and I were talking last night; there's a good chance dgs will decide to stay closer to home for college. Maybe the autism -- maybe something he will change his mind about multiple times before he graduates high school -- but I know these next four years are going to fly by in a big blur.

Mystery, I have my ceiling fan on in the bedroom, Mystery. Every day, with the AC set at 72, I start feeling chilly inside the house. Today, I set it up to 73, and then after my shower, I was too hot. I'll turn the fan off before I get ready to go to sleep, but it feels good right now.

DGS suggested we cook supper tonight, but I didn't have anything really ready to do that, but we are going to have to start making this a habit. Y'all know how I worried about my finances when dh passed away, and everything was fine... but whew -- I don't know if I'm EVER going to get back ahead. It's not like I am destitute or anything, but I'm going to have trouble saving up my "emergency" fund like I had before, much less paying back the loan from dmom. OTOH, I am paying approx. $1000 a month for football tickets, and that will end after two more months. DBIL pays his half to me in a lump sum at the end of the year, and I write the check for the total in six installments. I told DS last night, after dgrands get past college age, and we know where they plan to spend their college years, I may tell dbil I have to let this go. Neither DS nor DGS really want to spend the weekend down there like dh did. DS said he had so few weekends at home that he would prefer to watch the ballgame on tv and have the rest of the time to do other things, rather than making a 12-hour day of it, or an overnight trip.
I feel so disloyal to dh for not keeping up these trips or making this a routine that dgrands' would hate to give up... but DS said that what I want matters too. He said I had to realize that it is okay to do what I want to do. He actually said, "It is crazy to think we have to go down there every weekend when the only person who would enjoy it is the person who is not here anymore." DGD even opted to stay home with me the weekend DS and ddil took dgs. DS also pointed out again, that if dh were left alone, he would definitely not be doing this with both dgrands on his own. And that is true -- dh could no longer drive the whole trip on his own, and he could barely walk from the handicapped bus stop to the stadium. But I am not going to give up the tickets until dgrands get past college age. Just in case they do decide to go there for school. At that point, I may also tell dbil he has to buy my half of the condo -- of course, in 8 years, dbil may be ready to sell the whole place. Dbil is 70 years old now. His life is going to change in the next 8 years too.
ANYWAY, I've got to cut back somewhere NOW, and fast food is the most obvious place to start.