SHEs Organized

This morning I pulled 8 packages of tomatoes out of the freezer and have been letting them cook down today. It is a good day to have the stove on and the bubbling mixture puts humidity into the air. After several hours of simmering they are starting to turn a beautiful dark red and taste wonderful. I've used 3 cups of the sauce in a Mexican casserole I just put together and is now baking in the oven.

I've emptied out all the very top kitchen cabinets today and washed everything. As I put items back they were evaluated to be decluttered. The items that were kept are now sparkling clean and organized. This is a task that doesn't show because these high cabinets are rarely accessed.....but I'm thrilled to get this done because it feels good to know what is in those cabinets and to know it is clean and organized.

OKay, I'm thankful I'm not at home with a throwing up four-year old! You've given me some much needed perspective.

I'm sitting in front of the SAD light. Between being so irritable this morning, and today, feeling like I don't have the inner resources to get through what I need to do, I'm thinking I will use the light for a few days. We'll be in the Tampa FL area on Thursday - Sunday a.m. so that might help also. The rain here has gone on for days and days. This is another night I suspect the dogs won't get a walk - it's 40 degrees and rain is coming down hard.

Today I tried to contact GA DFCS to report that dsis is hospitalized and not using her food stamps - what a rigamarole to go through! They note on some mail I rec'd that I can make an appointment at the local office and then they list a post office box. Also phone call re: dsis is able to be dismissed from hospital if we can find a personal care facility for her....also, I need to contact her xdh because I'm not receiving the bills for her house which I am willing to pay.

We usually pay someone to stay at the house to take care of ddogs so they also have some company overnight. I now have Thursday and Friday night covered, and we get back on Sunday a.m. so we may be able to ask a neighbor to let them out to potty and stretch a couple of times on Sat and then early on Sunday a.m. I doubt I can find boarding at this point since it is a holiday weekend.

Tomorrow I am not working, tho I need to show up as I found something on my desk as I was heading out, feeling demoralized. I am getting a pedicure (in honor of the FL trip) at 1 p.m. and also have a temple board meeting tomorrow night.

I'll try not to go to bed so early I wake up in the night....

thank you about always looking out for us here d harriet.

good night all

Dgson will be here in a bit then sleep over and get on the bus here in the morning hoping we can figure out the time for it.

I've been getting few things to take with us towels dd mentioned that that did not have enough. Small coffee maker that I know how to run. I must get the can opener too.

Chickens are going fine in this weather.
Snow is off the front yard still on the road in front of the house.
Tomorrow is the day we are hoping to have it gone with 39* for the high keeping our fingers crossed for that to happen.

Earlier this evening dh removed the toilet and it is now sitting on his trailer. Then I heard him making a lot of noise and he had the tub turned and ready to be taken out. He called his motorcycle buddy and he came and they quickly removed it from the house and it joined the toilet. Everything except the vanity, which is staying, is out of the bathroom and once he vaccums again, it will be ready for the next phase.

Today at Home Depot, I took a tile from the shelf over to where the bathroom countertop section is and compared it to all the samples. The one we had picked was the only one that looked good with our tile. So tonight dh ordered the countertop.

When I went to the high dollar decorating store to pick up the shower basin, I looked at tile for my bath. Wow, if I didn't get sticker shock. For the master bath we purchased 60 bull nosed tiles that are 3 x 12 and they were $3.07 each. Well, I found some tile like what I had in mind and for 1 3 x12, it was $17.69. At the very minimum, we would probably need 60 and it would be over $1000.00. That is just for basically an accent piece. I did a rough estimate for the rest and yikes. Dh told me if it's what I want, to order it. I liked it but not enough to spend that kind of money. No way, no how. I just can't justify it. So many of the tiles are neutral, this isn't far out at all but not everyone would like tan and navy. So I am still looking for tile. At least I have awhile before I need it.

Hi everyone! DD10 has come and gone. We ate Chinese, got her homework done, played games on the Chuck E Cheese website, and played with a beach ball. I have a LOL on the drying rack and have put the trash and recyclables out. I have updated Quicken and moved money to savings, which I would have forgotten if I had not rechecked in here. I also have to make tomorrow's lunch and feed some cats. Then a mindless video and crochet.

DD actually had fun tonight, which is surprising, since she was not allowed to go to CEC. I have agreed to try not to slap her and she has agreed to try to be nicer to me. She did not want to go back to XDH's house.

Tomorrow I need to get something done at payroll that I have been procrastinating on. I will get it done but I wish I had gotten my butt in gear earlier.

Harmony: I bought dh a bodrhan (Irish frame drum) for Xmas 2011. He's never mastered it and it turns out it is a very complicated drum to play (you hit it with a tipper.) Plus his teacher thinks it is for Irish jigs and reels only (but I figured it could be used for all Celtic music and we have a number of Celtic hymns. His teacher does use it for personal meditation as well, so there's another way it might be used in church, during prayer.

Watched a great tv show on female tv comics and laughed and laughed. But it made the rest of my night late.

I just finished a report I had forgotten to write for tonight's deadline. Sigh...

Plus I had to look up rental housing to get a sense of the market for the minister's Housing Allowance and got looking at places for us. Found a great house at the top of our price range, but with a gas stove, and across the street from the Governor General's estate (that's where the Queen stays when she comes to Canada.) I had been looking for a place with open space across the street and this certainly fits the bill! (Dh looked at the pictures and said No because he wants to try an apartment first.)

Boy, y'all have been busy today. Guess everybody believed they had to get in turbo gear...

And how did I miss saying HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO IVY this morning???
I could have sworn I did, but I don't see it on my post, so I must have only said it in my head.
Happy birthday, Ivy!!!

Y'all must have had a subliminal effect on me, b/c although I won't say I was in TURBO gear, I was productive today.
Got a HUGE amount of decluttering done on my desk, organized a LOT of papers, threw away a bunch of papers, sorted things that need to be filed tomorrow.
Stayed till past 4:30 working on school newspaper.
Home, dmil's w/dh, nursing home w/dh -- to watch dgs while dh & ds did their monthly singing.
While there, I talked to dmom on phone, dggaunt on phone, and visited w/dcousin & family. This is my dad's 2nd cousin, approx. his age, who recently had a stroke. Her son & her niece were there also, and it was her dmom I was talking to on the phone. That is not a misprint. She is my late dgf's aunt, ddad's great aunt, my great-great aunt. She had been wanting to hear from ddad, I think.
Supper w/ds & dg
Wmart for ds. I sat in the car & watched dgs sleep.
Home again. Finally.

No, I have not exercised. There just hasn't been a spare 30 minutes, unless I had done exercise before I came to the computer.

Another delayed start tomorrow. Happy dance... happy dance...

SIXTY-ONE IS FUN-FUN-FUN!

That was the song I sang in the shower today! I had a GR8 b-day ALL day! My adult kids and DIL and grandsons called this evening to wish me a Happy B-day. When Dson/Ddil asked the 4-year-old grandson, "Hey, how old do you think Grandma is?" He yelled,"REALLY OLD!!!" His tone of voice and the emphasis on "OLD" was a riot! I was on speaker phone, so everybody cracked up laughing.

My Ta Da:
- s2s, shaved in the direction down, as DH suggests to prevent cuts or razor burn. I'm getting good at it now. Used to shave up, but cut myself, etc...
- washed 2 lol
- sorted mail
- made the bed pretty
- worked on a short story
- got out The Mayo Clinic Diet Book
- got out The Mayo Clinic Food Journal
- erased all the pages from 8 weeks in 2010, when I tried the Mayo Clinic Diet then. (Went from 208 - 196.8 Lbs. in about 10 months, prior to rotator cuff surgery).
- took red ink, dated the food journal from Jan. 21/Mon. through Sun/Mar. 31.
- got out a steno pad to date food journal going forward from April 1 to whenever both sides of the steno pad end. Am hoping it'll be in the summer sometime, so I'm organized before the grandsons come to get firewood this summer to help their grandpa.
- wrote in my journal
- took a rest, but did not sleep
- watched the news
- enjoyed the birds outdoors
- turned on a light, when it was dark outdoors, and a raccoon waddled from the bottom of the bird feeder pole fast away into trees, when he heard me.
- am letting DH pick what he wants to watch on TV tonight.
- updated calendar reminders

To Do:
- a.m. to do list
- try to write at least 1 thank you letter
- brush, floss, meds, Zantac at bedtime
- hot spot the great room

I wanted to THANK EVERYBODY about wishing me a Happy Birthday today, too! It made me feel really good.