Daily Ooo's: December 14-15: Weekend Edition

[faerywings]

Happy Weekend to you! We made it! I survived the week and am still in one piece. Relatively speaking.
Chalk up another few more things getting closer to be crossed off of the To-Do. Yes, that is a grammatically ambiguous statement that accurately reflects the state of the To-Do list.

Appt with X-ray place with verification that the Rx was indeed faxed to them: Check
F-W baskets started: Check
Dog and rat treats for Christmas baked: Check
Phone call with mother ending in yelling: Sadly Check.
Exhaustion and Insomnia: CHECK

I am trying, O-zies. I really am.
I am tired and stressed and worried and frustrated. Did I say tired?

I do have another happy thing to share about Caitlyn. She had to meet with one of her professors after class today about Finals and projects. The professor asked her if she would be the presenter of some research that her class has been working on at a conference in the Spring. Cait is thrilled and terrified at the same time, It is a BIG honor but she hates talking in front of people. Even the idea that this well-renowned doctor (Ph.D.) wants her to present is huge. Caitlyn mentions that she is going to apply to grad school for her Master's in Social Work and the prof said that she is happy that Cait is doing that, but really thinks she should go for her PhD instead. (If Cait wanted to get her PhD in psychology she would have to go away-- Rutgers is the closest. Again, the idea that this professor (she is one of the few African-American PhD's in Psychology in the country) thinks Cait is capable of doing that and doing "great things in the field". That is darn impressive.
Today, Scott is presenting his proposal that he has worked on for his internship to the Bd of Directors. His supervisor already told him that he went above and beyond what they expected from him and that she is going to try to get all of the resources possible to turn this into a long-term project.

I know that I focus on my kids so very much but they are my shining lights. As always, thank you for indulging me in my Proud Mama Ramblings.

Wishing everyone a wonderful, productive day!

 

[faerywings]

Nancy- It poured up here and I think that it washed away almost all of the snow. The dinner sounds like it was lots of fun. I hear ya about how parents getting older can make things unsettled. I wish that part was easier for everyone.
I misread that- I thought you were done with PT, but going to 2 days/week has to be better, especially this time of year.
Good luck to the Devils!

Trudy- I love hearing about Hunter, he makes me smile so much. So adorable about him showing you his elf. It is such a cute concept, but one that I am happy I missed.
Cait has delayed speech. She made a static sound instead of talking for over 2 years. Now- try and get her to shut up. She is like her mama. I didn't talk until I was three then I spoke in full sentences non-stop according to my mom.
An idea for the stairs... what if you wrapped ribbon or fake evergreen garland between the spindled and then hung tiny ornaments or fake icicles from that? I do something similar to the rail on my porch steps and it looks nice and keeps the top free for holding on. Nope, I will not call you Scrooge.

Jean- wow, it must feel so good to have all of the things for BIL done and shipped. I am assuming that you did get it shipped yesterday if not, then today or soon.
Yeah, I am not sure what my mom is thinking. She is so full of anger at my dad. He is not right in some of their issues but she isn't helping either. Which is why I ended up yelling at her. She will *not* take advice, suggestions, or information from anyone. She used to listen to me, but I can't get through to her at this point. I know it is hard for her, but it is really hard on me too

Kay- how is the computer stuff going? I saw a bunch of your LOs as I was scrolling on FB. I still am stuck on scrapping this month. It is getting really bad and I hope that Vicki doesn't mind. I don't think she would kick me out of the Cheery Os. But I feel bad that I am not keeping up with my CO duties very well.
Shootings are so common that they don't even make a blip. There was another one yesterday at a workplace. I couldn't even tell you where it was. Today is the anniversary of Sandy Hook. If that didn't anyone willing to change the laws, nothing will.
keep that foot up as best you can, so happy to hear that it is feeling better, even if it is only a bit at a time.

Rae- oh no, sorry to hear that the SW is not helpful. I know I don't have to say this, but def.. stay in touch with the supervisor. Is the SW new to the field? What a silly question to ask B if she remembered her. Even the limited knowledge I have of Alzheimer's, I know that you couldn't rely on an answer like that. Of course they compensate. :doh:
Sending you HUGE hugs. I wish that this wasn't such a struggle for you, Jen, and B.
Enjoy your comfort food.

I have to get in the shower, FP is this morning.
Love to all!

 

[BrightEyes]

Morning, all. Yesterday was a busy and productive day. Still have a few LOs to work on. I did make it over to the Post Office to drop-off the bills, popped into the Library to drop off a book and pick up another. Then over to the grocery store. Got smart and had the bag boy load the bags into my car.. and used the wire cart to bring them into the house in one trip. The foot held up pretty well. Last evening, I cleared out all the stuff in the cabinet under the kitchen sink so it is ready for SiL to install the new food disposal. DD#1 called while I was working on that to say they would be over early Sunday morning to do that chore. I sat in one of the rolling kitchen chairs and used my 'reacher' to pull the stuff forward so I could pick them up and put it in the laundry basket. Wow... had a lot of stuff under there - 2 baskets full to over-flowing. Got rid of some almost empty containers. Will be moving some things into the pantry since I have more space in there. Woke up with the foot aching some but not as bad as it had been... so all in all I am glad to see the improvement. Not going to push it so will rest with the foot up today.

Felis, in answer to your question about where mail is delivered now... the Post Office wants the banks of mailboxes so it is faster for the mail person to deliver the mail. At our previous house, the bank of mailboxes was right across the street from our house. At the house I am now in, the mailbox bank is 3 blocks away. It is safer because the boxes have locks on them where the old style single boxes at the houses don't have locks. If I had a continuing medical condition that prevented me from going to boxes and had a doctor's siggy on the paperwork and had no one in the house who could go get the mail, the PO would deliver mail to the house. Not to that point as I can drive down to get the mail.

Wow, Chris... you were so busy yesterday, too. Sorry about your mom causing you to yell at her. Family dynamics can cause such stress. Glad you got the lost Rx for the Xrays straightened out so you can get that done soon. Congrats to both Cait and Scott for their achievements! What an honor for both of them. It is okay for a proud momma to brag on them.

Nancy, glad your PT is now down to 2 times a week. Sorry the Devils are having a bad season.

Trudy, Chris had a great idea of how to decorate the stair rails. I used to do that when we lived in the 2 story house. Or just let that go and not worry about it. I won't call you Scrooge!

Jean, bet you enjoyed the Mexican meal out and great to have left-overs! Glad you finished getting the last things for BiL and got everything mailed.

Oh, Rae, how frustrating for you and the family over the new social worker for B... Glad that the supervisor knows B and her condition better. Seems like it is a constant battle to keep good health care workers. Hope you did order something delivered for supper and you got to relax a bit after that long and frustrating day.

Need to get another cup of coffee then get dressed. I forgot to take pain meds this AM so the foot is talking to me. Off to get that! Have a good weekend.

 

[nancyr]

Good morning - did my first walk around the block with my DH and Luther. It felt good not to have my knees hurt. There is still stiffness but it was fun except of course the weather is the pits. Drizzle yuck! But at least not a steady rain. Our river is up to the tops of its banks as we got so much rain last night! My Devils lost 3-1 but they played so much better. Taylor Hall was kept out of the game as a precaution - in other words he is going to be traded soon and they don't want him hurt. I am sure he is a good friend and the team will miss him but if he was not going to stay with the Devils then he should be traded. I am thinking though that what ever team he is on gets the first draft choice so perhaps they don't trade him until the draft so we get the first choice. LOL. It is just a distraction to the team even if they don't think so. My goalie was hurt and my other goalie had to come in in relief and he did well. Now he will start in the game tonight in Arizona. Only trouble with these games are they start late. But I made it up to the end of the game.

Chris those are such great stories of Cait and Scott. Congrats to them. You should brag this is something I love hearing. Glad you got so much done. Sorry yelling at your mom. I was my mom's favorite until I made her go into assisted living but it was the correct thing for her and my sister. Hard to be a parent to a parent. I just hope I remember that when I need my kids help.

Kay glad you got your errands done and the foot did not over react. Slow but steady is the way to go. Have fun with the scrapping. Each one finished is such a joy! Hope the new installation goes smoothly!

Trudy FaceTime seems so fun! I am sure he will talking soon and as others have said once he starts he won't stop. Hope the shopping went well. And I like Chris's suggestion for your banister.

Rae I am so sorry to hear how the SW was so untrained. Glad she has a supervisor you can go too. That was a long time for a meeting when you feel the SW is not doing her job. B does not realize what great advocates she has for her. She is one lucky girl. Love your jay photos!

Jean Mexican sounds so good. Glad you have leftovers! Congrats on getting the shopping done even if you had to include gifts for evil cat.

Have a great day all!

 

[bcgal00]

Good morning ladies. Really busy wkend ahead but will fit in some "me" time. Extra desk work came in yesterday so I will work on that today/tomorrow. I'm glad for it b/c I only have one more wk of work and that'll be it until Jan. It hurts the paycheque but I'm happy for some quiet time around the holidays. D is on holidays now and just has to work a bit just before new years. Looking forward to it.

Enjoyed my glutenfree pizza although Dominos always overcooks it a bit, I still enjoy it though. I eat a whole small pizza and enjoy the pigout

The rain finally stopped so I'm looking forward to getting out with Taz later. D and I will go run some errands, maybe do a bit of Xmas shopping. Need to figure out dinner. Jen is coming to watch some Castle Rock episodes with us later so she'll probably want dinner too. I'll figure out some kind of meat/sauce that works for all of us. She is lower carb than I am so need a dish that we can all add to, rice for D, cauli/broccoli for me and salad greens/tomatoes for J.

Chris - your children are so smart and wonderful...what a proud mama you must be.

Kay - sounds like you are compensating well for your foot. We haven't heard anything about when it starts but our city wants to switch to that kind of mail delivery too. With the high crime rate its worrisome b/c the chance of theft will be higher. I hope that doesn't happen here until after we retire and move away from this area.

Nancy - good that you got out for a walk and your knee didn't hurt.

I'm getting out of here now and will get some desk work done, run errands and maybe get a chance to scrap a bit later before J comes. Of course, things never go as planned so.....who knows LOL.

Have a great day everyone.

 

[taxed4ever]

Hey ladies... quick in and out of here this morning as usual it will be our busy Saturday shopping! I think I will talk DH into hitting the farm market downtown today too. Perhaps there is something there that will be a unique gift for our Chinese Gift Exchange this year. Anyway I love that you have given me suggestions on the staircase Chris and thanks ladies for the encouragement and not calling me scrooge if I don't do anything LOL. I will attempt to try to get back here later today, but no promises and Rae says things never go as planned! :frusty: have a great Saturday everyone!! :wave:

 

[faerywings]

Good morning and a very Happy Sunday to everyone!

I am not in the best of moods today so I am going to start out with some things I am thankful for.
1. My conversation with my mom yesterday was much better than I expected. We are all set to have lunch tomorrow.
2. FP was a good score! 2 dozen eggs, a big thing of peanut butter, dry shampoo for Cait and coffee for me.
3. Cait's breakfast with Brendan did *not* end with her getting back with him. Whew! (Super-quick run down is that he called her and asked if they could meet for b-fast. She said yes which made me go a bit quivery on the inside. However, she said upfront that she was not interested in getting back together but does want to be friends. He, OTOH, knows that he made a big mistake. No kidding, dude.)

Ok, that helped a bit. I know that I am scraping the bottom. But better than not trying at all, eh? Yesterday was not a good day. I was able to get a few things wrapped and that was a good feeling. Then, my plan was to bake another batch of cookies. What is the saying about man plans and God laughs? I opened the utensil drawer and wouldn't you know, there was more mouse poop in there. The day before, I had seen some and took everything out, soaked it in bleach, rewashed and put it back in. Mis-take! I had to do that all over again and also needed to take out everything in the cabinet underneath. Gary had to help me get the stuff out from the back and then he sealed up the areas he thinks that they are getting in from behind the dishwasher. I spent way to much time on my feet and by dinner time, Gary talked me into ordering pizza. I really didn't want to spend the money but I could not spend one more minute on my foot. I was very good-- I then grabbed my book and put my foot up on the sofa. When Scott came in and saw me there, he was shocked and then happy. Told me I looked terrible and should do this more often. My kids are 100% honest if nothing else. Ha!!!

I didn't put anything back into the cabinet yet. Figured I would wait and see if the mice came back in first. I also put in some cotton balls with peppermint essential oil on them- that is supposed to be a natural repellent. If I can get the kitchen back to "normal" I will make the cookies- they are easy enough to do and then the rest of the day will be *chill.*

I would say that is my plan, but we all know how that seems to work out so I am gonna keep my mouth shut! :rofl:
HAGD!!

 

[faerywings]

Kay- yikes-- it sounds like you did way too much too but I am really happy that you were able to get the foot propped up and didn't experience any setback. What a great image I have of you rolling around in your chair to empty your cabinet. (I should have done that!!! Although my grabber wouldn't work so well on pots and pans.)
We have a lot of rural routes in town, especially in the lake communities. I always wondered about people who couldn't out of the house to get there. Interesting and good to know there is a workaround when/if ever needed.
I had the idea that if I had my aunt's email, I could ask her to talk to my mom. She is the only other person in the world that might be able to get through to my mom. I have to try and be more patient. But darn, it is hard. You can tell, I raised my kids to help themselves, Yes, I will *always* be there to support them, but darn it, they have to take the initiative. It is difficult to watch my mom not do that.
Thank you for the congrats about my kids. Even Scott has been saying that he never expected himself to do anything with his life (In HS- he said his goal was to be a bum, live in a box)

Nancy- congrats on the walk with DH and Luther-- you didn't have the leash did you? I know he is a very good boy but the squirrels are like an invading army right now. I would hate to see him take off and you go boom
That is good news, that the Devils played better even though they lost. Is there any chance of them having a winning season at this point? Thank you for sharing about your mom - it is hard parenting a parent.

Rae- good for you to enjoy the pigout pizza!!! You deserved that. Enjoy your Me Time this weekend, you deserve that too. We finished Castle Rock the other night, what are you thinking of it so far? I never saw Misery so I have no idea how it connects. TY for the compliments of my kids.
Buhahah!!

Of course, things never go as planned so.....who knows.

Yup!!!

Trudy- I hope that you and your Gary had a nice day out and about and that the crowds weren't too crazy.

Felis- I am almost done with that book and if the character doesn't remind me of you-- omg, it makes me smile!
xoxo!

 

[BrightEyes]

Awake before the sun is up... seems to be the pattern now. DD#1 and hubby should be over in about an hour. I am feeling lazy so may just make this a PJ day. Chris, I learned how to get around using rolling chairs, etc when I first injured my foot many years ago. I liked watching DH use the rolling chair as he moved around the kitchen. They can be a life-saver when I need to stay off the foot. And couldn't do without my reacher/grabber... I have worn out 2 of them already. The big challenge will be when it is time to put all the stuff back into the cabinet under the sink. I need to pick up some plastic bins to put stuff in so it is easier to get to them.

DD#3 came over for a visit yesterday afternoon. She took DH's large balance ball chair so it is out of the office. He had used it until he had his 2nd stroke and couldn't balance on it - then bought his large desk chair. Haven't seen her since we got back from Las Vegas late last month. Nice to have a one-on-one visit with her.

Oh, Chris... so sorry about the mice getting into the kitchen area. What a huge mess it is to clean everything then having to do it all over again! Hope that Gary got all the holes plugged up now. Glad you gave in and rested your foot... you have been going non-stop lately. I know it is hard to let others do what you normally do - but at least it gets done even if is not done the way you would do it.

Need another cup of coffee and some fruit for breakfast. CYL

 

[nancyr]

good day. WOW the sun has finally broken through but the wind has picked up. I will go out for another walk after lunch. My son wants to have lasagne for dinner but I said he has to go and get the ingredients. He already brought us bagels for breakfast so he is on my really good list. After listening to everyone baking I actually baked peanut butter cookies. OMgosh they were so good. I have not baked cookies in so long as I could probably eat the whole batch myself. The boys loved them so that was good. Got another page done so that made me happy. Wait for it though what made me happiest - My Devils won a game. And the players that were responsible were my young players. Mike McLeod who was just called up and played because Taylor Hall was held out had two assists and the final score was 2-1. He was involved in both goals. So happy for him. My team has played better without Hall so hope that is resolved soon for our team and for Hall too!

Chris yuck with the mice. Hope you got the holes plugged. And glad you ordered pizza sounds like you needed it. Chill today and keep that foot up.

Chris and Kay one of the extras that the hospital suggested (mostly for hip replacement patients) was the grabber. I found the extra long shoe horn was my favorite extra. I was great for putting on my shoes.

Kay how nice to have a one on one visit with your daughter. You are so lucky! Hope the repair goes fast and well. My DH thinks he is a fix-it person but not really. He does try though.

Rae and Trudy hope the errands and days are busy but not too busy! Enjoy!

Waving to all

Have a great day all!

 

[scrap-genie]

Friday I did get BiL's gifts wrapped and packed all but the artwork in a box that nicely held them. But the drawing I framed was just too big for any of our boxes except really humongous. I have long wanted to give him one and the request from our niece got me giving them a serious look and there was one that just seemed like it should be his. So, whether he wants it or not, he's getting it. Anyway we went to UPS for them to pack and ship it and they produced a perfect fit box. But like Trudy we paid a small fortune to ship. Yesterday was some house cleaning (and my knee is complaining) and I'm seriously working on the family history newsletter in hopes of mailing those that need the print version by Tuesday. The rest I send in email. Today is the usual Sunday of football watching. Late this morning it started to turn white but then it must have melted so now it's just windy.

Oy, Chris, not more with the mice! What a bummer. I too am hoping they are not coming back in there now. Your poor foot. Hope making the list of good things helped start your day. Cait can be friends, but doesn't need to see him much just because it's familiar. I know from long ago experience how easy that can be. But not a good idea. Keep glowing with pride for both Scott and Cait's accomplishments and being all around good kids. Hope your plans really do come about.

Kay, what nice kids you have as well! The rolling chair and grabber trick must make lots easier for you. Hope your foot is getting better though.

Nancy, good news that the young Devils won. How nice to be able to walk without the pain. Hope too that you're still being careful with Luther. I know what you mean about cookies, but one batch was OK and I can imagine how good they are.

Trudy, hope your usual busy weekend is going well and you aren't worrying about being Scrooge if you don't do all the decorating.

Rae, hope you get out with Taz and shopping too. Must be a challenge to feed three different diet plans.

Have a good one, all.