I love that the bean loves the outdoors. He has the coolest grandmother! Farm animals, gardens, fun times outdoors! Pretty sweet!

Well BF came over tonight after my friend and I couldn't get the bed together. It took most of the night but we got it done. Now to remake my bed and put the side tables and lamps etc back.

Tatoulua, I hope everything goes well for the marathon.

If you cancel your cleaners, you will gave a taste of every other week. Maybe it will make you more certain about what schedule you want long term.

I understand now that the headboard is not a structural part of the bed. If you took away my headboard, my bed would fall apart.

Road, addiction is really hard. I have family members who have struggled for years and those who overcame it, but the shadow is always there. Just keep reminding yourself that other people need to own their own stuff. I had a long conversation with a former student/now friend about that a few weeks ago.

I don't want to say Facebook is toxic, but Facebook definitely allows us to amplify and reinforce the worst of ourselves. My mom has been watching her cousin's daughter's "storybook" marriage disintegrate in a public and unpleasant fashion on Facebook recently. And my DD's ex tried to use it to manipulate her. While I don't think misdeeds should be covered up, there is something to be said for not airing your dirty laundry in the public square.

I definitely needed to sleep. I would like to get to a point where I don't need so much sleep on Friday nights, but with Thursday night classes into December, that is unlikely even if I get school under control.

I met Bean and his parents at the pumpkin farm yesterday for much outdoor fun (he lasted 45 minutes, which is a lot for a little guy with that much stimulation) and he left tired but happy, unlike many of the kids we saw being loaded into cars. It was extra fun for me because it was the place I used to take my kids.

I also got my garlic planted and made 6 pints of frozen custard.

Today I think I am going to take bean to the apple orchard all by myself when I pick him up. I asked his parents and they said yes, and that he liked it when he went before. That kid loves to be outside.

Oh Riadm sorry to hear of the family drama. It is hard to stay out, isn't it? I just try to remind myself that other people have messy lives and I don't want that for my life. Addiction is terrible and life-ruining. It is very sad and very tragic and yet I applaud you for knowing that you don't have to be a part of the story. Hard to do it but worth it.

my headboard is a very subtle white color. I don't know if you know the Farrow & Ball paints but their colors are saturated and they probably have a dozen whites. The paints are from England and are water based, so much better for the environment. I used Skimming Stone. It is very pale and very subtle. Absolutely no odor. My hallway is their Borrowed Light, which sometimes looks pale blue and other times looks a bit minty. My bathroom is painted Light Blue, which in my bathroom looks like a green color.

The headboard, which I purchased used from etsy, was a cream color when I got it.



I have an anonymous Instagram account if you want to take a look at any things I've done in my house. Let me know if you use Instagram and I'll show you my account.

Ps marathon is tomorrow. Usually in April. I was down by the finish line last night. I love the marathon. It's such a fun time in the city. I am not comfortable going this year.

Tatoulia, I *like* your friends. They seem like good people. Sorry if I forgot but what color are you painting the headboard? Wishing again my frequent wish that this was a more modern format that supported picture sharing. I'm very visual. Was the marathon this weekend? One of my all time favorite albums is Billie Holliday live at Storyville. Random fact.

Cm, sorry about the bunny club. I've been in some quilting and Down syndrome groups where the tension can bring it all down -or at least ruin things. Hope it resolves without too much drama.

Subc, I love hearing people say they got so much sleep. You can tell you really must've needed it.

Vent /Trigger warning:
Last night we had family drama with the two members who are struggling with substance abuse. My niece put up a post on Facebook publicly calling out my sister on her bs. It was somewhat profound, slightly incoherent, soaked in lies, and full of honesty all at the same time. It was interesting because my brother is more in the mix as a sounding board now and I think he was trying to vent to me although it took me awhile to figure that out and I was thinking "dude, I processed that type of thing 6 years ago, I've been burned 67 times since then and I can't afford to care anymore." They will try their best to complicate things but what needs to happen is simple. The two enmeshed parties need to not live together, use whatever carrot will get them into rehab again, sort out the longer term stuff once everyone's been sober for a little while. But until at least one of those people actually puts those wheels into motion, the cycle will just repeat. We used to be the most "normal, average" family. The wheels started to really fall off about ten years ago and now we're kind of the all-American $#!+show. Le sigh. I sent texts out last night "take that post down" and "you need to move out" and "she needs to move out" and "take steps to get healthy" aka get thee to rehab, all else can be sorted later. I'm sure they both saw my name at the top of the text and tossed their phones at the nearest wall. All is silent on the drama front today. Ooh that was a long vent - sorry!

Cm I'm sorry about what's going on with the bunny club. So weird how things get so far afield of the purpose. I have sat in functional boards and dysfunctional boards. I'm sorry that yours is moving into the dysfunctional category. Hopefully cooler heads will prevail.

SubC we set up the bed frame and the bed last night. Only need to add the headboard after I have finished painting it. I am one of those people who cannot sleep on a box spring and mattress on the floor. Good for you for getting a good amount of sleep!

My room seems weird. I have to keep reminding myself that I have given about two years' worth of thought into getting rid of my bed.

My friend is coming Wednesday to get the bed! She is out of town this weekend and will leave her car and take her dad's big SUV. She and her daughter will pick up Wednesday night.

I think I should cancel my cleaners this week, The old bed is in the hallway, the hallway table, etc is in the living room. There's too much chaos for me to have the cleaners here. So I'll see about canceling them. I hate to do so but it's the only thing that makes sense.

Hi everyone!

Good morning!

I've been popping in to read but too busy to post.

Struggling so hard to keep up with the house - time, time, time!

Tatoulia, I am glad you found a solution for the bed. Are you camping on your mattress now?

Road, it sounds like you are getting a good handle on things. I enjoy reading about your progress! I'm glad you are taking time to have fun also.

CM, when I was reading your list, I was thinking OMG, you can't make this stuff up! And then you said it.. I am so sorry. I would also start wondering if I were cursed!

I wish that you could go away for the weekend to a nice place with working plumbing and comfortable beds. Maybe a writer's workshop..

I got three new students this week. I have another one starting Wednesday and I haven't figured out where I'm going to fit their pottery shelf. They are student #10 in a class I allotted nine shelves because I had six students to start. I think I will move one of my existing students who could benefit from more space to a different section.

My other new tablecloth arrived. I like it a lot too. I have 5 different range cloths for my table now. One of them is Halloween themed, so I will get used less, but I decorate big for Halloween. I bought it for $5 one November.

Thursday I went to Bean's house for dinner between school and the class I take. Friday it took me until 5:45 to get everything together enough to leave my classroom. It was a rough week at school and I kept leaving loose ends untied. So my evening was dinner, chores, and load the dishwasher.

I slept TEN hours friday night. Then yesterday I stripped garden beds, planted garlic (more of both to do today), prepped ice cream mix, spent about an hour looking up some information for a class, and went to visit dear friends on the other side of the city. We had a lovely time, but got home really late.

Today is make ice cream, more dishes, finish planting garlic, lesson plans, and anything else I can squeeze in. Dh is going to play golf.

I also forgot to mention that the bunny club is experiencing a category 4 or 5 conflict that is due for a showdown tomorrow. It may very well fracture the board of directors and who knows what all. The founders have a possible solution but the newer people who are dissatisfied may not accept it.

I'm not on the board but may have to step back in and help out again temporarily. We'll see. Hope it isn't a total stressful s---show. Makes me nostalgic for the days when we were a small club rather than a nonprofit with few resources.

So tired of so many things. 😪

Quick check in. I'm sorry about the situation, CM. you truly need to catch a break. Road, I'm so pleased to hear that you and your son had some fun together.

Friend and I dismantled the bed. I put a coat of paint on the front of the headboard.

There was precious little under my bed. I vacuumed it. Friend said she'd come back tomorrow if I've finished painting the headboard. I love it when she comes over. She makes herself a cup of coffee and gets herself something to eat. We got takeout for dinner. I walked her partway home and we went by the marathon finish line.

Cm, it has really been an odyssey. I can see why you're burned out. I'd get crispy after 1/8th of all that happening. I really hope for you it starts progressing in a more substantial way.

I didn't get much done today. Kind of minimal. Did a load of laundry and cleaned a few things. This am I finished printing out Genealogy records for a great grandfather. I'm back tracking and trying to have Organized paper records on file for Everyone back to great greats. It's really time consuming but it's way overdue and will help me streamline my Processes and hopefully get me better results with less time spinning wheels. Also stitched a bit. I have a few fairly large projects that are all kind of close to being done. It's not so much that I'm getting bored because I've pretty much been stitching on the same one for months, and before that it was the same with various other projects. Not sure why I would have a psychological block With finishing cross stitch projects but I sure do. Things that make you go hmmm.

Hope you all are having a good weekend.

This week has had more weird than usual in it. Plus the usual weird.

I didn't mind Facebook being down; I used to spend way too much time on it so have been weaning anyway.

Still more repeating variations on the Bigbut project - the gearing up, the waiting, the onset of doubt, the questioning, followed by the resignation of another day gone by, another disappointment, more improvising just trying to do the tasks of daily life.

Yesterday, the guy had actually made it to the place to pick up the excavator, and the employee was driving it to hitch to his truck, and ran into our guy! 😳 He was not badly hurt but banged up. (And he already has back problems.) His son was supposed to take over today but we never heard a thing.

The city has been under a boil water order since yesterday afternoon when a 42 inch water main broke.

Tomorrow is supposed to be 97 degrees, a record breaker.

You can't make this stuff up. 😒

There have been so many setbacks I'm tempted to wonder if our project is cursed. I get a mental image of getting one of those backpack tanks like an exterminator uses, filling it with holy water, and just soaking our place, our handyman and his place, maybe the entire town. 💧💧💧💧

Hey all,

I was able to write up a good list of things-done today. My brother made some progress, too I think. I hit the consignment and a thrift (again!) looking for love seats and lamps but no luck. And this time it really annoyed me walking through the thrift for some reason. I bought a package of floss storage bags. I got rid of some more garbage which felt good. I. Ventured into the back 40 again and consolidated a few things so I think it's safe to say I'm working on that now. And I did a lot of maintenance and basic cleanup. Caught up on paperwork and discovered I misplaced my master to do lists... pretty sure I'll figure out where they are tomorrow. I hope.

Had some sweet moments of joy with my boy... just finished watching "map of tiny perfect things" - very good, very emotional. Well, off to bedfordshire. Will check in tomorrow.

Fwiw, I've been on both sides of the temp thing and I think one of the benefits (there are defn. Downsides) is that you have a middle man for those situations where it's not working out. I think it makes it easier on everyone honestly. I probably temped for 6 years in my 20s and then managed temps for about the same time frame. I'm still friends with one of them who went on to work for twitter and seems to have retired early. I wish I had followed her. Lol. Another memorable guy, wasn't great but had the basic skills, but he had written a little book with a friend of his about adventure in the Canadian bush and now I always give it to my young adventurous friends.

Well, I got off on a tangent there. So people, I am feeling better and motivated to catch up on cleaning. I might try alternating on the invisible but super important paper work, and the less important but highly visible messes... I already did the car, the dogs, and the upstairs garbage... I texted my bro And he's on board so away we go. Will check back in later.

Hope everyone has a good day at work and/or can hang on til the weekend... counting down...

Hi everyone! SubC take care of yourself. Road is right, you do so much!

Road, I hope you are feeling better! I do remember that feeling of a cold getting worse, starting around 3 PM and just worsening from there.

Ok good news, my friend loves my bed. She'll be out of town this weekend so hopefully will pick it up the following weekend.

I honestly didn't give much thought to the temp's last day. He had earphones in all day and didn't bother me or anyone else. At the end of the night I took his laptop, telling him I'll lock it up for Friday. I got a little nervous around 445 PM and so pretended to be on a work call as I waved him goodnight. The agency is supposed to let him know his contract terminated early. I contacted office services around 8 tonight to ask that his pass be deactivated.

When I saw BF tonight and said I felt a little badly about the temp, BF said, "who cares?" and we both laughed.

I didn't mention this earlier but I also fired a 20plus year employee recently. She was extremely nasty and consequently, people never corrected her work or would say anything to her. For years I've been telling her she had to talk to me civilly or not at all. (she chose not at all). When I was promoted, (and thus her manager) she said, "congratulations, does this mean I'm fired?" Four months into my promotion and she continued with poor work performance and a nasty, biting tongue. So I terminated her. Everyone up the chain of command agreed and I had to go through several levels of VPs in three different departments, ultimately ending at the CEO's doorstep. No roadblocks, no one saying to give her one more chance. She underestimated my need for a functioning department. She underestimated me.

Tatoulia, I wish you luck!

I don't think I could work all day with someone and hide that they were getting fired. They would know that something was very wrong. My boss would have to not tell me.

Road, I hope you and your son feel better soon.

Somebody told me once that we all do the same hours of things every day, and some of them are sleep. We just choose different things. I think some people see me as doing more things because I do different things and they don't think about all the things they assume everyone does that I do not do.

The radio told me Facebook was down.

One of my new table clothes arrived. I washed it last night and need to dry it today.

On Tuesday I dropped the recycling and took a stack of books to the used book store.

Ok, this is the two day stretch with too much going on, I'll check back eventually.

Hi all, sorry I was away for a bit there. My son and I both caught a bad cold and he's been home all week so far. I was sure it was the big C but we each took a home test (neg) and we both seem to be on the mend. I am feeling worse at the moment but you know how that is with colds where it gets worse in the evenings?

I managed to knock back some of the mess that was accumulating in the house from being sick so it actually isn't too bad. I picked up all the tissues and trash from both of our rooms today too. It reminded me of being sick before my room was cleaned up and habitually just throwing kleenexes on the floor ( on top of the pile) so I didn't want to get used to that sight again. I went down a "grey gardens" (if you're familiar with the documentary) rabbit hole last two days and watched all available content. Kind of like watching a season of hoarders... Depressing but motivating as well. Also I just felt a lot of compassion for them. Everyone is always saying "how did that happen?!" But I can see how it happened.

Tatoulia, hope the rest of your "project new bed" goes smoothly. Id say you're nearly there!

CM, if bill Murray showed up that might make it all worthwhile, eh? The real bill Murray not that jerk he plays in the movie. Haha

Sub C, bean sounds so cute. I really need to make more of an effort with my nieces and nephews kids. One of them just turned 2 on Sunday. Such a cutie. I don't know how you do half of what you do, honestly. I think it's a lot.

Tomorrow: I think I'll try to finish the cleaning up from being sick cleaning... and I need to go through my paper work pile again, so I don't lose track of anything. I did have to reschedule a school meeting. I'm not fit for public consumption yet with all the coughing. October into November is a stressful time of the year for me Because I have my sons bday and all the school meetings that go along with that. I used to have a bunch of other stuff as well but I don't do that anymore so I guess it shouldn't seem like such a big deal.

Will check back in tomorrow morning if my son goes back to school.

Cleaners did a great job today. Hopefully my friend will want my bed. She's going away this weekend but if I know she's taking it, next weekend is fine for the pick up. If not, I know a young couple to ask. Just trying to get this accomplished.

I put one coat of paint on the back of the headboard last night. Didn't do a fantastic job. Am going to do the two coats to the back then do the two careful coats to the front. When my other friend is here on Saturday, we'll be able to figure things out in terms of attaching it to the Ned frame, etc.

Okay back to work. I'm firing my temp tomorrow. He's terrible. Actually the agency will take care of that. I'll work in the office with him tomorrow and pretend we are working together on Friday so he'll leave him computer behind and then we won't have to go through the process of disabling it and having him mail it back. Much cleaner.

Hey SubC! I'm here. A friend who may want my bed is coming over Wednesday night to look at it. I hope she likes it. My other friend, who lived with me, is coming Saturday to help me dismantle the one bed and put up the new one. Wish us luck.

Yes I still need to paint the new headboard. Did one coat on the back tonight. The front is going to be a much longer process.

Heloooooo

I miss everybody. I hope you are all ok.

My school year is 10% done. I need to actually go through all the notebooks I brought home for the weekend and give feedback so I can return them. (Some today, more tomorrow.)

I need to drop the recycling on the way to school today too - it has really piled up. I did pretty well with laundry and dishes yesterday though.

Bean has a new word - keys. And a new tooth. 8 now. And he can walk sideways and backwards. He asks for food now when he is hungry, and he can sign "more". Yesterday he was really into peekaboo.

I ordered two new tablecloths for fall. I don't know why I am doing so much shopping lately!

I cleared and sorted everything on the bench, but have several piles on the floor that must be taken somewhere else before Bean comes tomorrow. I did not find my breeding book.

I also got the barn bin off the shelf in the closet and sorted through it and purged a few things. I still did not find my breeding book.

I cleared off the couch - no book.

I also vacuumed.

I unloaded the feed that was still in my car.

I did not do any prep for school this week.

It is noon.

Dh is removing a siding board from the house because it is rotting and needs to be replaced.

He reglued the high chair where it was coming loose.

I cleared off the table and ironed my red chambray tablecloth and put it on. Now I am eating burned raisin bread and tea for (breakfast? Brunch?)

I did not find my breeding book. Next I will clear off the bench.

We did not go to church.

So far this morning I have made coffee, done chores, discovered my breeding book (which is very important and I need today) is misplaced and burned the raisin bread. We are out of flour.

There is a point where I become really tired and struggle to just keep up with the highest priority tasks, and I become numb - which is where I have been for a few weeks, and then I get a break and I start making some progress, and then I rest a little bit so that I can start paying attention to things that are not urgent and then I realize how bad everything is and all the emotional stuff that I have been not feeling overwhelms me and all I want to do is cry.

That is where I am now.

Oh CM, that is so frustrating!

I am swimming again, but from farther off shore. Most of the day I just floated.

As a life guard - if you were bobbing I would know you were in trouble and come get you, but as a literalist, it's not drowning until you take your first breath that includes water.

I ran the dishwasher, and will do it again, and I ran two loads of wash, but I forgot a whole bunch of stuff that needed to go in the bleach load.

I also went out in the garden for a while and picked peppers, carrots, and broccolini for dinner (Dh is stir frying) plus some squash and ground cherries - I keep thinking they are done, but they keep supplying a little more. I did pull out one plant that was definitely finished.

Dipping in briefly

No sewer line repairs have happened yet, nor even the preparations for them, except that the gas company did sign off on permission to dig. But after weeks of hot weather, the very next day it was "game called on account of rain," I kid you not. ⛈⛈⛈🌧🌧💧💧💧☔ Sheesh.

Every day that we get all geared up for something about to happen then nothing does, is beginning to feel like being in the movie "Groundhog Day." I half expect to see Bill Murray hanging about.

Enough of that. I'm too sick of all of it to say much more. 😔

Moving along...

Saw a link to this article from a Reddit post and liked it, thought perhaps you all would as well. It fits my mood at least some of the time these days:

Languishing

Thanks for the life ring road. :) I'm just going to hang on it for a while.

Slept late, milked, got feed. Haven't fed the chickens yet. Still very low on energy. The good news is things are so bad around here that pretty much anything I do will be an improvement.

I don't know what makes a puppy get rejected from surgery, but I'm sorry.

Dh wants to go to church tomorrow. We don't go to church. We went years ago when the kids were young. I don't find god in buildings. I'm trying to understand. He thinks it will be a good source of community. I'm doubtful. I am skipping heartdaughter's outdoor post wedding party today because it is a lot of driving and a lot of people and I have a lot to do. Church is almost as much driving, just as much time, indoors, and more people who are less likely to be vaccinated. Why would I skip the first one and then do the other? This does not seem like a good choice.

I would probably skip the lamps for a while and take it as a sign that I should focus on other parts of the house during low light hours. But I hate buying things that aren't what I want. Ymmv.

Take 2... tech probs...

Tatoulia, about the rod, I know! What are you doing?! You HAVE curtains. You just need the dumb bracket. Oh boy. And I've thought about going back several times to buy those dumb curtains! **still forgetting that's not the issue! Meanwhile, I have a very inelegant ripped pillow case draped over a window screen as a curtain. So this is where my dysfunction spins out in all its glory...

The progress I CAN report is that I started this project printing out paper records of my genealogy research and kind of found a rhythm for it. I've been researching for years, kind of willy nilly- partly because of ADD, partly because the volume of info avail has exploded, but I realized awhile ago that if you're working alone and everything is online and you haven't shared anything, it will all be for soothing if/when something happens to you. So I started creating little films with some content, a printed booklet for some other content, and now I am basically just creating an old fashioned paper record from the ground up and checking all the facts as I go... I was working on the record for a great grandfather yesterday and for whatever reason, (I've just done enough to figure out how to approach it maybe) but the process Just kind of jelled and I realized I was doing the right thing in a good way and I'm going to keep going with this for awhile... so that feels good. For the amount of research I've done, I have relatively little laid out in order on paper (in binders) and even though it kind of runs counter to getting RID of things and paper, etc. in this case, it's organizing the work and will ultimately save me some time spinning in circles and duplicating work, etc.

Well, the puppy was rejected for surgery so now I need to figure out what the heck these doggies are getting into in the back yard. I think they're gonna lose access to the yard til I figure it out.

Talk to you guys later,

Happy weekend, people!

Off to a bit of a jarring start this am. Rough sleep night and then we almost overslept dropping puppy off for spay appt. << Just deleted the whole unpleasant story here. >> Suffice it to say all the feathers are ruffled and need smoothing. Bluhhhhh.

Hit one more thrift for lamps - also with no luck. So I'm definitely now going to have to spend some money. Not money money like for "quality" whatever. More like $150 for a box of 4 cheap lamps money, which is irksome cause I'd Really prefer paying $25 for a $200 lamp. Hehe. But to find those ya gotta spend a lot of free time skulking around thrift stores which, as we all know, only leads to T.rouble. (Capitol T that rhymes with p that stands for pool).... ( that's my movie-quote Tourette's )...

SubC, glad you got your shiny new canning pot. You will put it to good use. I Am a little creeped By dolls, too and yet I have about 100... if I sold my Seminole folk dolls, they would prob only cover that $150 box of cheap lamps so that's totally not worth it. Haha.

Ok now. My YMCA swimming safety trainer friend has taught me that bobbing up and down in the water means you *are* drowning so (throwing you a life preserver) are you drowning ? Don't try to answer that - we're Turning the boat around... extending the net...

Road, I am very proud of you for resisting all those purchases!

I do have the doll gene. I got it (and many of the dolls) from my grandmother. My children tease me unmercifully about it. They are on team Tatoulia and don't like that some of the dolls are in the rooms where they stay. Bean likes to look at the little ones in the cupboard.

I hope you find a lamp.

Tatoulia, good luck with the bed.

My replacement canning pot arrived and looks like it will work well. If I get a chance to can again.

Currently I am no longer treading water - I am bobbing up and down for air. If I can just get through today I will get a break tomorrow to try to swim for shore.

My work friend had a family emergency yesterday, and desperately needed a sub. I am not on the sub list because I NEED my two mornings a week, but I had told her I would sub for her in a pinch. She tried all the other options, but it was a pinch. Now I am out of chick feed and can't buy more until tomorrow. They are getting by on goat food and garden gleanings. (It will be fine)

Happy October!

I bet you looked really pretty at the wedding, SubC!

Road GREAT job on not acquiring! Isn't that funny that when you stopped and thought about it, your issue isn't that you need curtains but you need a rod!

Thankfully I don't have the ?doll gene' that you and CM share. In fact, I'm mainly afraid of dolls.

My house is clean, courtesy of my wonderful cleaners. They do not want my bed. So on to another potential person. Trash night. I'll want to get it out soon.

Today's report...
- went through a pile of current paper work and triaged...
- found some deadlines and wrote up some post its. Still need to get in my phone and on the calendar.
- ran into my disjointed note taking from the other day when I was trying to schedule appointments. I have almost no memory of that session at all. Need to ask my friend to help me again.
- swept the floor
- moved some stuff around randomly in the back 40. Toying with the idea of getting serious.
- shopped for some lamps. Our living room is fresh out of lamps. I hit amazon, I hit eBay, I hit the thrift. No luck. Tomorrow I will hit the consignment. Gee I hate spending money on boring things like lamps. Lol.
- tossed some greeting card envelopes in the trash along with a brand new shiny Sundance catalog and a perfectly good (Used) cardboard mailer. Bye bye.

Oh and I also want to say I didn't buy anything on amazon or the thrift. I did finish a purchase of some silk floss on eBay though. I saw a set of curtains (perfect base color for my room, Great condition, lined, tasseled, etc. ) for $6 but did I loooooooove them? No? Then walk away. And I did. And I also remembered I already have curtains, what I don't have is a functional curtain rod. I also saw this vintage doll stand. It had a vintage Japanese doll on it but it was in pretty rough shape and I already have some that are better. But the stand was cool And still worked. (Music box)... also $6. But I walked away. Blah blah blah blah blah. Like I said, I'm kind of on the far side of the acquisition problem, but I still have to work at it.

So that's me.

More sympathy here Tatoulia! It must have been all the harder for the long break.

Sorry about the nightgowns. :(

I wore the new black teacher skirt with the rainbow pinstripes. It is in the wash now and I will probably pair it with a bright color tshirt for school on Friday.

Thank you, Road. I appreciate it.

SubC it sounds like your daughter has the magic touch with children! Which teacher skirt did you wear?

Cleaners coming tmr instead of today. I did a lot of laundry today, including two new nightgowns I just bought for mom. I may have mentioned this but she keeps all sorts of stuff in trash bags and I think I mistakenly donated her nightgowns. They are so expensive. I got her two more and will hope to see a sale so I can add two more to her collection. She likes cotton lawn, which I understand since it really is a nice fabric.

I still have one or two more laundry loads to do. But I'm happy with the four loads I did.

Tatoulia, so sorry for your unnerving experience. I hope you are able to get some peace and rest tonight. Hugs your way:::::

Things a little nuts here. Haven't read your posts. Will do later.

Got several 3 AM calls yesterday and I was too afraid to answer or look at the phone. I was terrified and paralyzed. I can't explain it. The first one woke me up. Then it rang again a few minutes later. Then there third time I looked at phone to make sure not coming from my mother or her facility. I didn't recognize the number although it was coming from a local area code. For some reason I ended throwing up. I was terrified and panicking. I googled the number with no luck and then entered it into my iPhone and it came up as "possible" crazy family member. I had to get a basin to bring into bedroom because I was sick all night.

The next AM my mother called and she had also gotten several calls from this person (a sibling of mine, a child of hers) and the information was even more upsetting and unnerving. I wasn't able to eat beyond saltines yesterday and I had several incidents of extreme stomach upset. I was at the office yesterday, which was good. I came home last night and took a Xanax and went to bed.

The details aren't important but the person had a long list of things they needed involving fairly significant sums of money. The person claimed to be about 3000 miles away from home and needed money for a hotel room and airfare home. I declined and forbade my mother since I am pretty sure it was a hoax. I know it was my sibling and I know this person may have believed that they were far from home but I'm not convinced that any of it was happening. Very terrifying.

Thank you for listening.

Good morning!

I am so late and slow today. The wedding was lovely, but the reception was very late and loud. We had a small private room in a restaurant, but there was super loud music and general noise plus in room conversation. I wore my new teacher skirt and dressed it up with heels and jewelry and a fancy black top. People liked it.

Both grandsons did very well. Dd kept heartgrandson overnight, and when dessert arrived, she had his packed to go and both boys whisked away in under three minutes. There were little cakes and she got heartgrandson on board by giving him a box that would hold more than "his share" and insisting he pack it full and they get out of there before anyone stopped them. (Ok, hug your mom, grab your box, let's go!)

Anyway, I have a headache from the noise and the late night and a wobbly stomach from too much rich food (only drank the small toast glass of Champaign)

Road, I think it's good that you share your thought process. Did you carry the empty bin with you in the conga line?

I am working on downshifting and focusing on priorities. Yesterday's priorities were Bean and the Wedding. Today is school and rest. Actually I have been doing the rest first, but school is the higher priority. If I have a good school day and go to bed at a reasonable hour with my planning done for tomorrow we will call that a success. And dishes. They have gotten a bit out of hand, but they are not a crisis.

Aw golly gee I feel so validated. You guys are the best. My son will sometimes say to my mom, "Need proud". Such poetry. I think we all feel that way sometimes, eh? And I totally forgot to be proud of myself and let that bin emptying experience sink in.

So... YES! An empty bin! I just put on a festive party hat and did the empty bin Konga line! (Can you hear it?) the process was a little intimidating because I was trying to do it with the H and I was worried he'd be heavy handed but he kind of leaned the other way which was interesting. (Wanting to hold on to stuff I was ready to get rid of) . I have a pretty well established routine of seasonal decorating on the mantle, the top of pan antique radio (very small space) and sometimes a little on a side table, so there's only so much stuff can use for that amount of space. I don't have any trouble getting rid of crushed or banged up things. I take that back. I had to talk to myself twice about NOT keeping the crushed vintage repro printed paper chain garland paper because it *could be * cute decoupaged onto a frame. "Just say NO, ROAD, NO." Thankfully I listened to myself. I moved the stuff the H was taking to school to the door, put the garbage in the garbage, then binned up the donate and put it out on the porch. Have to figure out a better system for this though because H will move it to the garage, the son will find it and start bringing stuff in and it may get recirculated. That has happened many times. I. Know the answer to this. It goes like this: "pack it up in grocery bags, take it to the car, drive directly to the donation center and drop it off." (Do not pass go, do not collect $200...) In the past I've given it to the H but sometimes it would never leave his trunk and the recirculating game would start again. He would completely deny this btw. So anyway, Bottom line, I have to get better at the follow through. Maybe I need to measure the cubic inches of both the garbage AND the donations. Any / all suggestions will be entertained. How did I feel about it? I felt good. I did still reach that "ok, my brain is now liquefying" stage where I can no longer think straight and just picked all the remaining stuff up and shoved it into one of the remaining bins. So I still need to go through that stuff and will definitely be able to get rid of some more. This is a trial run for Christmas which is the major offender. But I'm not there yet, so I will just try to see what I can learn from this and feel good about doing a good job in this category so far. Just had to check back and see what you asked, Tatoulia - did I feel emotional or strong? Definitely not emotional which is very very good. But I'm also not that attached to this stuff. Christmas will be harder because there's 10x as much, there's more that's sentimental and intentionally collected. But still not as hard to get rid of I think as some of my craft stuff and especially my son's childhood stuff. I'm just going to keep working on the cleaning and streamlining the easy stuff. (Easier stuff). Ok, as usual, I think I hashed that to death, haha, but good exercise to think it through.

So in terms of reclamation of conquered ground... I did get laundry up off the floor, I swept and swiffered the floor. I tidied up the nightstand, and kinda sorta made the bed. Also installed new printer which ended up being a 2 hour Project for some reason. And we had many many events this weekend which was fun. Kind of like the olden days (pre Covid).

Alright guys, I'm off to sew a bunch of tiny x's... thx again for the pats on the back and things to consider.

Wedding in 4.5 hours.

Showered, clothes laid out (grandson napping)

Forgot to answer about the basket - it's coiled. The packing tape is twisted into the core and then wrapped with strips of plastic bag. I showed the kids last week and they will start theirs next week. Hopefully they will find colorful plastic bags. I mostly have tan.

Good uses for the large dish, SubC!

I finished priming the headboard but have not started painting it. I walked to my friend's house to feed her cat then walked to the grocery store to do mom's shopping Now I'm home and ready for a shower.

I'm out of stuff that I need. I find it too hard to do my shopping while doing mom's. I picked up a few things but nothing significant for me.

Tatoulia, that is a very valid question about the canning pot. And I have considered getting rid of it before. Here is why I have not gotten rid of it:

1- It is big enough to store all my other canning racks/tools, nested pots inside and still put the lid on.

2 - it is a sentimental hand me down (if someone else who felt sentimental about it wanted it fir regular use I would hand it over)

3 - it's large size makes it suitable as an ice filled drink cooler, apple bobbing container, kid's birthday party fish pond, or variety of other potential uses. It is by far the biggest pot I own, but still fits on top of my pantry cupboard.

4 - it works in an emergency (such as yesterday) and it is nice to have a back up.

Everyone (including Dh) has gone off to various places and I am having a quiet afternoon attempting apple scrap jelly for the first time.

Road! Excellent work on the bins! Tell me how you felt?did you feel strong or emotional or something else? Or a mix? When doing my big clear out many years ago, I felt that I had wasted so much money and so much space and I felt like I had abused the privilege of owning things. It was such a bad feeling. As promised, however I was able to move past that and feel strong and powerful about my choices. I have been blessed that I do not feel guilt or a longing for anything that is now gone. I leaned to say I loved it then, I don't need to love it now. Let me know what types of things you are feeling. Because I feel proud of you!

I'm excited about your son's dance. I hope he had a good time!

Cm I am so sorry that you are going through so many systemic problems with the house. I am grateful, however that at sine point you will be safer and these things will be fixed. Good for you to get to a doll show! Thank bet that was great fun and relaxing!

SubC, you are amazing. I bet the applesauce tastes so nice. I'm glad you made some smart choices regarding what to purchase. Question: if the one canning bath pan is too big and bulky, is it time to let it go? Just a question and you need not justify anything to me. Just something I learned from our dear Tillie. Honestly, she changed my life when she taught me that if I'm moving something out of the way to get to something I use, maybe I need to get rid of the thing in my way.

I have primed half of the headboard. Will finish the back of it today. Since I slept til noon, I'm not sure if I'll start painting it today. I had the strength to continue priming last night but didn't want to be sloppy because it was so late

Cool breeze coming through AND I saw a bright rainbow yesterday! It was crossing over my street! I couldn't believe it. I haven't seen a rainbow in so long and there it was.

Good morning!
Everyone else here is still sleeping. Even the dog.

Hugs for CM! I am so sorry about all the horrible delays and setbacks! I just want you to have a nice, safe, working home.

I am glad you got to enjoy the doll show.

Tatoulia, is the headboard primed?

I am both aware that treading water is an accomplishment at the moment AND frustrated that I am not gaining ground.

Road, excellent job on the laundry and the Halloween bins! Does this mean you have an EMPTY bin?!

My new new skirt arrived yesterday and it fits fine. :) my weight crept up just a touch, but I will get back at it after the kids go.

We made applesauce for Bean yesterday. 12 quarts plus 3/4 of one to go straight in the fridge. Many hands made fast clean up, so there is not much of a mess., but my old, hand me down, enamel water bath canner sprung a leak. We had to switch to the extra large one that doesn't actually fit on the stove very well and takes forever to heat up.

Dsil is going to take the leaky canner to use as a planter

I found the tamale cooker that is suggested several places as an extra deep (doesn't boil over with quart jars) water bath canner in several locations online - on sale for less than half price on Amazon and just ordered it. I thought about buying one a year ago, but couldn't find one available locally and didn't want to spend $50 sight unseen. For $22 I decided it was worth a gamble. It should arrive Tuesday, so no reduction in pots to record.

The canning lids I bought are Tattler reusable - I think you can get bulk regular metal lids for about 22 cents each right now. The Tattler were 83 cents each. During the pandemic I finally bit the bullet and tried some because I could get them and they were only 3x the cost of regular lids. I liked them and I'm pretty confident I will can for at least 4 more years and therefor save money on lids with this choice. Also, it stresses me out sometimes when I need to use smaller jars because of the extra cost of lids, so this way it doesn't matter - if I run out of quarts, pints are just fine.

Eeeek CM! I panicked when I read your sign off! I nodded with a raised eyebrow when I read your triple word score word "inexorably"... you know how sometimes people will get asked (during an interview or whatever) what is their favorite word? I think inexorably might be on my top ten list. It ticks a lot of boxes. Lol

Glad you had fun at the doll show. So do they have classes like at other shows - repair how tos and "history of" and "how to spot a fake" ? I guess if I was going to go to a collectibles show I'd go to an antique ornament show or antique Christmas. I don't even have anything that's valuable but that would be fun. I've been to a couple quilt shows and those are really fun.

Goal for tomorrow is reclaim/hold my ground on my floor space and night table cause I'm looking around and it's piling up a bit. Also want to get through the rest of the Halloween stuff, finish decorating and put away the Bins. Hopefully from 5 down to 4 or maybe 3, it could happen.

Over and out,

SubC, your packing tape basket would be of great interest to our black kitty. 🐈‍⬛ She likes to lick the glue of packing tape. Considers it a delicacy.

House project still stalled out because gas company is slow to get out and inspect. This house has so many jerry rigged things from previous owners that we're finding out about and having to fix one by one.

They tapped right into the gas line from the meter to run a line underground for a BBQ grill. 😳 Gas co. wants to be here when our Mr Fixit caps and bleeds it to ensure he does it properly. Which he knows how to do but they have to see it happen. But they are not recognizing how urgent this is. How would they like to live with a sewer that keeps slowly, inexorably collapsing? It backed up this week again and each temporary fix lasts a shorter time.

I did have a fun day today though. Went to the annual doll show (last year's didn't happen because of Covid). So fun to be around other doll people. And the hotel had lovely clean functional restrooms!

I may or may not post again until the Neverending Repair is actually done. Just depends. I get so tired of the topic, yet it permeates my and roommate's existence.

Either way, take care.

Tatoulia, no worries - I'm not overly sensitive. I may have misinterpreted subC's comment thinking she was frustrated when she wasn't.

Well, I stumbled into some productivity today. I had been missing the main Halloween box and the H ended up bringing all 5 bins into the living room so we went through all the costumes and decor and got rid of about a third. Then he reclaimed some to take to school which is fine. Tossed some, and the rest went into a donate bin. I still have to go through the party goods. I got a few more decorations up and a few more to do. This was connected with swapping the locations of two trunks, Putting new pads on both pieces, and fixing the curtains. So all of that got done and the floor got swept again - a mere one week after the last time it got swept. That's probably a record, but I'm not looking to keep that up. Haha. Also folded and put away most of the clean clothes. Dance at the high school tonight. My son is so excited. They're having it out in the courtyard and looks like the weather is going to be perfect so I'm happy about that. That's my report for today. Hope you all are having a great weekend,

Ps road I wasn't putting you down. I agree it can feel awful treading water and making no progress! Some days just not back sliding is a major accomplishment for me. So please know that I speak lovingly and not with any insult or disagreement, etc. we are all in this together!

Treading water means no losing ground! I'm waiting for my third load of laundry to finish then will run errands. I've started priming my new headboard. My friend stopped by to pick up keys for my car as she will be going away for a few days. I've showered. And that concludes my accomplishments for today so far.

Very humid so I will be very unhappy, I'm afraid.

I'll talk to you later! Setting a goal of getting all the primer on the headboard today.

SubC, that treading water is no fun. How much do canning jar lids go for this year? I'm so curious now about this basket of packing tape and plastic bags. Is it coiled? Braided? Woven? Inquiring minds.

We started out strong this am with a breakfast picnic at my brothers, with grandma and grandpa there - and all the dogs. Then it wenT downhill in the boredom department. Now I'm wrangling social anxiety b.s. trying to figure out how to get my son to the football game while remaining invisible to the crowds especially anyone I might have known 30+ years ago...

Nothing to report in the land of clearing other than I lugged a.very heavy basket Of clean clothes up from the basement. Excitement!

Good job roadster!

Treading water here. Kids arrive before I get home tonight. Dh jury duty was cancelled. (Did I say he had jury duty?) he got a new job with the same company - starts in a week or so and seems pleased. Itty bitty raise, but a raise is a raise. (The "raise" from him not driving to work has been much bigger)

My new canning jar lids arrived in the mail, my weight is holding steady at "most of my fat clothes fit" which is a significant improvement. I'm still enjoying the class I'm taking and using clay I already had stashed in my studio.

Today I teach my resource/environment focused class how to make a basket out of used packing tape and plastic bags. That should be fun!

I have not done any of my five minute sessions on my counter.

Happy Friday,

Big accomplishment for yesterday was not blowing off my measley 2 appts, even though I definitely considered canceling both... First I had a video chat with my sons speech pathologist. Got flooded (emotionally) and unfortunately started blubbing. I feel like I went to therapy for two years to stop crying in school meetings. I think I figured why it happens, but never figured out how to stop it. Lol - oh well. Embarrassing and frustrating. After that my BFF came over, as requested, to help me with some medical appts. We talked so much we ran out of time but she did help me get a couple wheels in motion... I'm going to try hard to follow through with what I wrote down to do. Hopefully my notes will be understandable because I remember nothing... son is home tomorrow so I am aiming to structure parts of the day so he's not bored out of his mind. I think I found someone to take him to games... which if it works out would tick off another item on my big list.

Hope everyone has a good day,

You are doing great, road, and you, too will make it through the week!

You are doing great SubC and you will make it thru the week. Okay, going to read the posts now. Goodnight, everyone and I'm grateful for your friendships.