SEPTEMBER SATURDAY

[DeeClutter]

That's what it is alright -the first Saturday in September -already! How can we be 3/4 of the way through another year already? When I think about how many years I've been a resident of our little village -no matter where that found us- it boggles my mind. I know for sure it was way back when dgs21 was a toddler. My earliest recollection is posting from Dayton OH when we were visiting Cincinnati Children's Hospital for dgs's retinoblastoma. Remember being 'warned' of 'sharks' at that point. Remember them?

Been raining off & on this morning. Supposed to do that all day but so far don't have the storms Kathryn had yesterday -must have come across the lake or just above it.

Most popular band is here tonight so there will probably be quite a turn out, plus they're celebrating dcampowner's birthday.

Hoping my aha moment of posting to our campground's site on FB might be doing the trick. Have had quite a few responses there and verbally of people willing to give it a 'try' again. Sure it's helping that some have posted their good results this week as well. Think I deserve a 'bonus'. Yeah, right!

First up today is to get the dishes done. I'm dallying with the idea of going to the gym to do some walking. I've GOT to do something different. I keep varying over the same 2 or 3 pounds -ALL SUMMER!

Got to talk with the gal who's riding to FL with me, last night for a bit. Asked me I drove after dark -NO WAY. Not at least if I can help it. Asked me how long it usually takes me -plan to spend two nights on the road. That also met with her favor. Then she asked if I had a G P S -yep, that too. Good thing as she's terrible with directions and I have to drop her off in Sanford, FL at her Mom's. She plans to surprise her Mom. So then I'll have less than 2 hours to drive to dd's. I plan to take the 417 expressway AROUND Orlando -hate driving through there. It'll cost more but worth it at any price -at least to me. But this now means I have to go around Jacksonville, FL which I also don't care for. Oh well.

Now to get to work on my lists for both getting ready to go and for closing the RV. How nice it would be if we could just leave everything. It will be more difficult for me as the things I usually do before closing, dh will now have to do and I need to list them all so he doesn't forget anything -like making sure everything is turned off -like the furnace. Making sure the propane tanks are 'off'. Things covered with bags. He's already told me to put away all the dishes and leave him paper. But there are some things I know he'll use.

Did buy myself a pair of tan capris at W mart yesterday for $5. I have a denim pair I love so will take this pair with me. I MIGHT go buy another denim pair & take that and leave this one here. For only $5 I can hardly go wrong. Part of me wants to start packing (already) but hate to have the suitcases hanging around for 6 weeks. Not even it occurs to me. Yikes!

Been trying to decide whether to go to our church picnic tomorrow. For the first time in a lot of years it's at the church proper (been at a State Park for quite a few about 40 miles from here). My hesitancy comes because tomorrow is dShelley's birthday and her memorial is right there where we're having our picnic. Not sure I can do it. Usually wouldn't bother me -just not sure. Depends on what our family is doing tomorrow too.

[BookSaver]

Good morning, villagers ~
Thanks for opening the thread, Dee. Using FB to spread the word about the improved laundry room was a very good idea. I agree with you about going around Orlando instead of driving through. You would probably pay as much or more in gas by dealing with the heavy traffic in the city as you will pay in tolls, and the driving experience will be more pleasant on the highway.

I would be tempted to make an official "Closing the RV" form for your DH, with boxes for him to check off (or even initial!) as he does them. Put it on a clipboard and tie a pen to it. Give it a company name the way Elizabeth here uses Elizabeth's Own Plumbing and such. MrDeeClutter's Winterizing Service -- and draw a company logo of some kind. Then he can use it when other people in the campground ask him to winterize their rigs. Of course, for me creating a form like that would be a creative project on its own and would probably keep me happily sidetracked for a whole afternoon.

I posted yesterday about a nasty email I received, and asked how you all deal with interruptions to your day. Harriet replied with some very good questions, including:

How would that have worked for you today, though... ... would things have been made even worse by delay, and are you glad you found out about the anger fast?

Oh, it absolutely would have been worse if I had not seen the message and dealt with it quickly. She sent it through the gmail account the sewing group board uses for our regular business, so all of the board members could read it. Luckily, she used the Board contact list and not the general membership list -- although with elections coming up in a couple months, maybe it would be good for the members to know what she's really like. No, I took the high road, and a couple other board members who saw the exchange of messages have told me that I handled it well and was much kinder to her than they would have been. (Note that the situation is not finished, because I still don't have an answer to my question about whether or not I'm supposed to pay the speaker at the meeting next weekend.)

Anyway, back to my question -- How to not let an interruption throw off the whole day and destroy progress. Probably a rhetorical question anyway, eh? I mean, what else is there to do about a buzzkill but pick up where you left off, and keep going.

Weekend plans: DH said he is taking Monday off, so we have a long weekend. I know he needs to mow and hopefully he will do that today since the temperature has dropped. (We've been having a heat wave in the 90s with very high humidity, but today is supposed to be only high 70s.) If DH goes out to mow, then I will go out to declutter the shed. I will do a couple loads of laundry today so we can have clean jeans for tomorrow. Tomorrow we will go up to see his family for DMIL's birthday.

[DeeClutter]

I'm in the process now of making dh's lists and my own, Booksaver. Love the idea of the clever naming. Do have one going for his winterizings -when/sites/paid & how much. He never charges but accepts any 'gift'. Some are average, some very good & a few not so good. But no one expects him to do it for free.

Friend, the one who loves to cook, just brought us a dish of pasta salad, a container of split pea soup and one of scalloped potatoes & ham. Yum!

Looks like it could rain again soon. Guess local football games had to be ended at half time last night because of thunder/lightening. Guess I slept through it. But we had the lights on on the deck (in memory of the fallen police officer Wed night) and the fan was going as was the AC. Now the AC's off -it's only 68 out today as opposed to 93 yesterday. Supposed to be cool all week I think.

Taking a break every 1/2 hour from working on all these lists that I'm consolidating/transposing and doing some 5-minute rounds.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Slow start to the day.

Bedroom is tidied up and I've finished my breakfast. Yes, it is noon here. Oh, and I've s2s.

Was researching bike computers and then thought to ask dh if anyone got me one for my birthday. He had so I got my present early! And it is going back. Sigh. I hate to do it. The bestest features would have been heart rate monitor and cadence. In my reading, I found a reasonably priced wired one with cadence and nothing reasonably priced with heart rate but that's ok, I can just wear my monitor watch and strap - the watch even has a handlebar mount.

Dh bought me a fancy wireless one with both features but it turns out it is cadence and heart rate compatible but you have to buy two add-ons for that, both expensive. Since neither works without the add-ons, it is much, much, cheaper to buy the wired one, get one of the two features I want and enjoy better battery life. My old one's battery lasted years and it is common for them to last 5 years or longer. Compared to barely a season with the wireless ones (and they cost more to begin with.) The fancy, fancy, ones are by Garmin and cost $200+ but I have no interest in anything like that.

So we'll bike over to the library to pick up my books and to the outdoor store to exchange my bike computer. Then dh will get it installed. One feature his had that the cheaper one won't is temperature which I didn't think I wanted until I had it. I'll spring for a dollar store thermometer.

[Emptynester]

Good morning All. Up, walked dog, did BS and BP tests, took 3 hour nap, washed dishes and now ready for the day. Can't believe the long nap but I haven't been sleeping well at night so I guess that was the result. I feel ready to go vs groggy and "dumb head" when I usually take that long a nap. So I guess I just wasn't done sleeping.

Went to town yesterday and purchased the ingredients for 4 kinds of soup - Veggie Beef, Chicken noodle, Bean with Ham and Potato/Spinach. I will start making them up and storing them for next week as I am having some outpatient surgery and don't think I want to be cooking. It was nice of them to put me first because of the diabetes but it also means that I have to get up at 4:30 to get there on time (1 1/2 hours away).

I had to get some blood tests done and they gave me the info to access my records at the hospital. Worked great until I tried to go back in to double check something and the link in the email doesn't work any more and they didn't give a URL anywhere in the documentation. Dummy me forgot to bookmark it. But it had my results from the morning already logged. Now if I could only get back to it. I'll call them Monday.

Time to set up meds for the next two weeks and finish a couple pots and pans. Then I better check the laundry. TTFN

[DeeClutter]

how did this turn to "locked"?
Edit: Have no idea how this topic became 'locked', but now have it UNLOCKED>

[Emptynester]

I figured it out. How to get into the Patient Portal from my hospital. I went to the link (that no longer works) in the email and deleted until I got to a login page. Bookmarked that puppy in a heart beat.

It doesn't give as much info as I thought. Previous visits only show referring Dr. and diagnosis. Not what tests were done nor the results. We have portals in several other hospitals that show a lot more info. Don't know why it can't be one big data base that shows all visits to all Dr. and hospitals along with test results. That would seem more logical.

Time to do what I was supposed to do.

[FelineFriend]

Thanks for the opener, Dee!

I plan to sort laundry, start Mount Washmore, then follow it all when it's done, with 2 loads of bathroom throw rugs, sweeping and mopping bathrooms. DH goes to either a funeral or wake, we're not certain as to which it'll actually be, but there was a post of condolences on-line for DH's deceased Dfriend's family, which said they're sorry they cannot attend the wake. All we know is that DH's friend's favorite restaurant is catering, so it may be a wake. All attendees were asked to wear U of W attire or purple, as he was a U of W graduate. It starts at 4 p.m., so won't expect DH home until 6 p.m. or later. I'll be busy doing the LOL up and doing the bathroom floors while he's gone. If I peter out, I'll crochet on DGS-5.5's Christmas afghan or log stories or read. I tend to overdo, need to pace, but when I want to get the job done, it's so hard to baby step. I need to pace today, or I will pay for it in pain tonight and tomorrow. So baby-step I will.

It's beautiful and sunny here. It'll be in the 80's today. U of W plays today, too. DH is watching college football games, I watched "Cedar Cove" On Demand, from last week. Things are really heating up. I read on the forum, for the show, how some people say there isn't diversity in Cedar Cove, there are no black people, etc... So I looked closely today and saw 2 black men in a crowd of people, so now they DO have diversity there, after all! That's good.

I need to run and get LOL sorted and started. The rugs come last, because of fibers in the washer. Need to wipe the washer drum out, rinse a couple times, so don't want to do clothes right after rugs.

Have a Happy September Saturday!

[Lady Maverick]

We are enjoying a slower paced day because it is RAINING!! Rain = slow day at MPB which means our need to do hands-on is greatly reduced. It feels almost like having a day off!

I made pigs-in-blanket for breakfast and a big pot of spaghetti for lunch. Now I'm done cooking for 24 hours. I typically don't cook on Sunday.

DH is watching college football on TV. LO and I are going through phases of being productive and lazy. LO is currently curled up underneath a quilt watching a cartoon on his Kindle. The temps have dropped 30 degrees in the last 24 hours so our body think it is cold.

[FelineFriend]

I went into the great room, stood at the back of my recliner, blowing my nose, crying as I faced DH sitting on his spot on the sectional sofa:

"What are you crying for? Why are you all upset?" said DH.

"It's Lydia. Her tumor was benign," I said through my tears.

"Well that's good news her tumor was benign," he reassured me.

"Yes, it's very good news." I forced a mile, blew my nose.

"Where was her tumor?" DH asked.

"It was in her sinuses, but twice before it was in her brain." I smiled.

"Well, that's good it was benign then. That's real good news." He looked concerned at me.

I blushed. "Lydia is a.... a character in Debbie Macomber's book, "The Shop on Blossom Street," who owns and runs a yarn store called A Good Yarn."

"Oh, SHEESH! I thought she was a woman from your forum! NOT a character from a BOOK!"

It just was too funny! I've grown fond of Lydia and she's so real to me! As all the characters of this particular book, but I say that with each and every new Debbie Macomber book I read!

I received the "2015 Novel & Short Story Writer's Market," book in the mail today. I'm scared. Now I need to:
1- Study it, read the articles in it, and peruse the markets,
2- Go to websites, print the most recent writer's guidelines and get recent editors' names, because they change from publication to current day, sometimes. (Editors HATE being called by another editor's name!)
3- Buy sample copies to = $$ spent,
4- Study sample copies,
5- Write stories, edit, and submit after writing a query or story with cover letter,
6- Wait and be patient as I try to break into other short story markets, like children's writing, mystery, suspense, etc....
This is a life-changer and game-changer from feeling comfortable and safe in the confessions story markets for 11 years. So, yes, I'm a bit scared at all the work I need to do and think "what if I fail?" BUT I made it from non-fiction and poetry to fiction! I KNOW I can do this! My goal's set and by 2016, I want to be published elsewhere with my byline.

Now, back to see if Lydia and her boyfriend decide to get more serious, now that her tumor's benign. I'm 80% done with the book.