Hello friends!

Lila, I hope you ar better.

We caught the edge of Helene.

No major damage - some trees down in the woods, roads still blocked, and our power was out for over 48 hours. Usually when the power goes out it's winter and I can just put the food outside in bins it was nice not to have to worry about the woodstove keeping up with the temperatures (we have back up heat so the pipes don't freeze if the stove can't keep up or goes out, it just gets cold in here - but it's electric) but I'm not looking forward to cleaning out the chest freezer (crying face) and a fridge full of sour milk. I was able to get ice today, but it was too late for a lot of stuff in the upstairs fridge. I've started the cleanout of that, and the upstairs freezer. So far four quarts of ice cream, some fish, five pounds of cheese and multiple open containers of various things.

All the milk in the downstairs fridge will have to be made into farm cheese (higher temp) if it's not sour and given to the chickens if it is.

My house was not hit by a tree. My family is fine. My Dd did not lose power so she did not have sleepless nights worrying about someone watching Buddy because his oxygen monitor wouldn't work. Really I am fine. And I am getting a nice fresh start with a mostly cleaned out fridge

I went to bed early. I slept later. I've been contemplating ways in which unlimited electricity makes my life more complicated and not necessarily easier.

My dishwasher is running. I need to do a load of wash.

Yesterday I woke up with a really bad migraine but I managed to get it medicated and get to Bean's house by 3. Then Dh and I went out to a concert in the city after dinner. While rummaging around in my closet by flashlight, I found two shirts I decided I'm not in love with, so those can go.

Good morning!

Happy equinox!

Balance.

I am staying home today and picking Bean up this evening to spend the night. I'm starting by taking a slow morning, but I do have a list of important things to accomplish before I go in order to make my week functional. Starting with resetting the great room, making bread, and dealing with my dairy glut. Plus grading and lesson plans.

Tomorrow is supposed to be a nice day, so I'm going to insist that Bean spend some time outside. He definitely stays inside too much at his own house.

Ok.

It's about 12:30.

I've got three clean, dry loads of laundry to put away, two loaves of bread cooling, 5 pints of frozen custard in the freezer, and the 4th wheel of cheese draining in the colander. When it's done, I'll throw the cheesecloth in and start the 4th and final load of laundry for today.

My dishwasher is full and running, my scullery sink is completely full of dishes, and I need to wash the ice cream maker. All the milk in my fridge has a September date, and none of it was sour.

I did yoga, remembered to take my vitamins, and cleaned up about half of the toys in the great room. I'm going to take a lunch break and then deal with lesson plans, the rest of the laundry, and whatever other cleaning up I have time for.

hello SubC, I enjoy your Bean and Buddy stories. It sounds like you are getting lots done, too.

Still no baby here but I am fine with that. I spent yesterday making plum cake, plum jam, and fried plums. I also froze some fresh herbs and put some in paper bags to dry. Today I am roasting tomatoes to make sauce and will bake a yellow squash casserole. I woke up with a cold, so am staying home chilling out which is nice but also means I am missing things I was looking forward to.

Meh, I feel sick, so hopefully I can just rest.

that should have been dried plums, not fried, although, hmm....

Good morning!

Lila, I hope you feel better.

Bean is here. I let him stay up really late last night (8:45) so he will probably sleep in. Dd said he was excited to come, but then changed his mind when he found out buddy wasn't coming too. He asked Dd who would hold buddy's hand if he cried when he got his diaper changed? They decided Bean could show daddy how to do it and then mommy could change the diapers and daddy could fill in for bean.

When he went to bed he wanted to work in in the garden (there are dry beans to pick) and go to the apple orchard today. He has a soccer game at 6, but Dd says it's fine if he misses it, so I'm just going to roll with him all day.

I got a second load of dishes done yesterday, and my house is in pretty good shape. I'm basically ready for school tomorrow (some materials to set up at school) and I have a plan to be ready for Wednesday. Still quite a bit of work to check tonight and tomorrow, and content to review and prep but I have a prioritized checklist and an orderly folder of materials.

The scullery counter is getting completely buried again though. It is the parking lot of unfinished tasks.

Still here. Haven't read a thing. Don't forget me!

Awwww... that's all so sweet, SubC, and I even have lil happy tears in my eyes reading it. Great name - Bud can mean a buddy or a tiny thing that will bloom. Excellent choice! And I am thrilled that he is doing well health wise and that Bean is being so sweet - like you said, big feelings he has but I'm sure mostly excited and happy ones. Bean & Buddy/Bud. Here's to a great new team!

P.S. Today I am poking through the layers in my room, something I haven't done for ages (which is why there are layers in the first place, lol). Exercise seems to be really helping my executive functioning. I would have been too intimidated by this when I was not exercising as much or at all. We are going this afternoon. I'll probably emphasize cardio since my muscles got a lot of the strenuous work yesterday.

Hello all! Long time, no "see". I've not been extremely productive on the house as of late. I do have plans for tomorrow to go through some unused crafting items to take to a craft swap at the library on Saturday. My goal is to take a lot more items that I'm never going to use and take home very little. There are not many things I would want anyway. Wish me luck. I'm trying hard not to acquire things, but it seems as though I'm struggling in that area.

Almost all of my time has been filled with doctor's appointments, exercise, and trip planning (which includes learning some of the German language). I just had my 7th MS infusion this morning. They gave me some steroids in the IV before the infusion because I had such bad side effects last time (flu-like symptoms). So far, since it finished at 8:30, I haven't been hurting as much and feel like I will be able to go to a ladies' meetup group at a nature trail this evening.

Congrats SubC on the new little one in the family! I'm glad to hear all is going well.

Lila: I'm so glad to hear that you have been given the green light on your health/healing. I hope that you will be able to get some emotional healing too.

Tatoulia: Congrats on your weight loss! It always feels so good to see that number coming down. I have 5 pounds to go to get to my first goal. I'm not sure if I'll make it by the time I leave for my trip on Oct 8. I had a birthday on Tuesday and I didn't eat great. I'm going Sunday to my mom's and will probably eat a slice of cake there. Keep up the awesome work.

CM: It sounds like you are doing awesome in accomplishing your cleaning goals!

I hope to continue with my progress as much as I can before the trip. I haven't been able to do any of the 15-minute sessions, but I'm hoping for some progress next week and the week before we go. After we return, it's going to be all hands on deck to get started on the hard work it will take to make these goals a reality. Thank you all for your inspiration and support!!

Good luck on the craft swap Goodwin, the not taking things home can be really hard.

CM, I'm glad you have the energy to attack your layers!

Bean didn't want to go to the apple orchard anymore when he woke up. He just wanted to play with toys all day and never get dressed. So we did that plus meals, some stories, some FaceTime calls to his mommy, his aunt and baby cousin, and my mom. Bubble bath and stories to finish it off.

I'm taking him home after school tomorrow and staying until his bedtime.

The kids have buddy at home alone tonight. He has to sleep with an oxygen monitor, so handling that without Bean at home the first night seemed like a good idea.

My house is covered with toys. Now to get ready for tomorrow.

Congratulations SubC!!! I am so excited to hear about the new baby, doing well and dark hair. How fun it will be for Bean to have him to play with when he is older!

TotsMom is due soon and already to 3cm so I don't think it will be long. It is exciting. Tot, Acorn, and Star will get a real surprise when he is here competing for time and attention.

I think I feel better for the most part and was recovering well and starting to almost feel normal, although I am very concerned about Teen (there is nothing I can do, though). Then my ex, TotsDad's dad, showed up in town unannounced and it really annoyed me because when my kids were little he hardly ever came to spend time with them but now he gets to be the carnival granddad and no one but me seems to remember how awful and abusive he was when they were little. I think, "it must be nice to spend your whole life ignoring your kids and then come back when they have kids and get credit for being such a cool and fun person." But I know it isn't nice, or fun, and I have to set my feelings aside and just stay out of the way of whatever he is doing.

Rather than decluttering, I am spending every weekend processing free food I am given, and I am thankful. Today I made a jar of refrigerator pickles and froze some fresh herbs and hung others to dry. I re-dried some cherry tomatoes that were still a little tacky. I sorted a couple boxes of plums I picked from a friend's yard the other day and am thinking about making jam, and dehydrating some. I am thankful and enjoy it but also will not be sad when tomato season is over.

Not much else to report. Will be reading through bit by bit to catch up.

Lila, good job on the food!

I am very behind on milk again. My garden just died in the drought, so that hasn't been an issue (eyeroll)

I used to get angry when Dh, who was a good dad, would just step in on the weekends for the fun stuff, so I can imagine how aggravating your ex must be. Kids remember though. Dh commented on how much more work two was going to be than one, and when he was out of the room, Dd looked at me and said "I don't know why dad is so focused on the work. He never did any of it."

Bean was glad to get home yesterday after school. I stayed until bedtime and got to spend some time with Buddy who is just a dear, while mom and dad focused on the big brother. They asked Bean if he wanted to hold his brother and he said "I'll hold him when he's toilet trained." - lol!

Got home late, chores, bed.

I kept up with dishes and laundry all week, but nothing else. Toys all over, no yoga, forgot my vitamins yesterday, a pile of stuff to catch up on for school.

Gotta go to the feed store as soon as it opens and then straight to DD's house. Dsil is taking Bean to soccer this morning and she's not ready to be alone with the baby yet. The timing will give her about half an hour by herself, but heartdaughter is right down the street if she needs her. Otherwise I'll run out of feed.

Then I stay and watch Bean in the afternoon while they take Buddy back to the hospital for more tests. At some point I need to stay home without Bean and catch up on school and the house, but we'll see. Hopefully tomorrow.

Ok, going to try to get yoga, chores, and a shower in before I go!

Just thought earlier I should check in and see if there is baby news. Just now settled enough to follow up on that thought. So will be praying and thinking good thoughts for all.

Went swimming today, and right now I'm having my evening sit out on the screen porch which is something I have made quite a habit of throughout the summer unless it was excessively hot, and hope to continue up until such time as it is excessively cold. It's very relaxing. I love to follow the moon phases. I understand tomorrow night there is to be a partial eclipse, which will be fun. Saw late fireflies in the neighbors' yard.

Will check in tomorrow.

Baby is here. Dark hair.

Being monitored for breathing.

All I know.

They brought him back, he's a little purplish at the fingertips, but rosey cheeked and has eaten. Dsil says Dd is doing great - much better than last time.

We took Bean out to his favorite fast food and bought some treats for his lunchbox.

Good morning!

Bean and I have school today. Might get to meet the little one after. Dd told me to plan on keeping Bean at least tomorrow. He's handling the transition great. We did have a small meltdown at bathtime last night, but I had deliberately exhausted him and wasn't planning a bath (he always wants to stay in the tub for a really long time) Dh decided to wash him while I was doing chores.

My house is a mess, and I skipped yoga yesterday and today, but my lesson plans are ready. I have a planning period to make print outs after I drop Bean at preschool.

Bean is quite pleased that the little brother has dark hair like mommy. (His is sandy like daddy.)

Oh SubC, that's great that things seem to be proceeding as they should - and that Bean is pleased with baby brother (you'll need a nickname for him - whatever suggests itself to you and fits him - you'll know).

Things have been busy here, when are they not haha. Got some fabric sorting and organizing done for several hours today and am generally pleased with the results. My body is telling me how much I did, because there was a fair amount of lifting, bending, squatting, getting up and down involved. A couple cubic feet worth of trash gotten rid of, and a cubic foot of donation items in a box which I shall take asap.

I'm still re-prioritizing and shifting my approach to creative pastimes. As much as I loved the dopamine I'd get from coming up with a Big Concept for an artsy quilt, it was a trap, because then I'd never finish the darn things. Now the goal is simpler - to efficiently move supplies through the pipeline, make units (which I may not even assemble into entire quilts myself; someone else may do it and I'm fine with that, and they will be out of my space in any case). And at any point, if things change at church or I just get tired of doing quilt piecing, I reserve the right to go through and donate a bunch of the remaining fabric and only do doll sewing with a much smaller curated batch of tiny prints that look good on dolls.

You may have gone through some sort of process with your pottery, I'm guessing, since you do actually finish things and get them sold. Some of that cubic foot that's going to donation also includes a few more pieces of sad, ugly fabric that I realized I have no obligation to keep. I'd gotten rid of other ugly fabric before, so there wasn't that much left to give me that icky uncertainty like well... maybe I'll use it... nope. Out it goes. Buh-bye. Good riddance.

I miss doing things like painting too, and a longer term goal is to get more space reclaimed for that. It's ongoing...

Good morning.

CM, there are a lot of things I don't finish also. Unfinished projects are the bane of my existence. If they suddenly disappeared from my studio, I would have a good deal of free space. Whatever you're making with your fabric, the important thing is that you enjoy it and feel like it is worthwhile.

Excellent job on the decluttering and exercise!

I think we're going to call the new fellow Buddy. Might get shorted to Bud.

Yesterday was a lot. The hardest part was driving into the city to the hospital, on streets I am unfamiliar with, with Bean chattering excitedly in my ear, during the evening commute hours. - low narrow parking garage, confusing signs, elevators, the only things that would have made the trip worse are darkness and parallel parking.

It was a big day for Bean too. He is having a lot of big feelings. He insisted on making a card for Buddy before we left my classroom and told him "welcome to Earth." He told his parents he doesn't want to come home tonight (they get discharged this afternoon, Buddy is doing great! Passed all his tests!), he wants to stay with me and have daddy pick him up from school tomorrow. He told me he wants to give Buddy a chance to "get settled in".

Anyway, today will be less a reset day and more a "try to get things in order enough to survive tomorrow" day. Bean wants to go to the apple orchard.

Hi Tatoulia!

Good luck with the badger!

Lila, you could put them in the fridge, but I think they taste less good that way.

I'm glad you're feeling better.

Our baby is due either Monday (according to the doctor) or Friday (according to the momma) they will discuss scheduling an induction at her appointment on Monday if he doesn't arrive before that, because they want her neonatal team on hand. Possibly they could even send her straight over.

I'm pretty wiped out this evening. Dh shared half his beer with me and l'll be happy if I manage chores and unloading the car tonight.

Lila, I'm glad to hear you have fresh vegetables! Eagerly awaiting the arrival of the babies for you and SubC.

I've done the dishes this AM, I've weighed myself for th first time in a long time (down 12 pounds from the last time I weighed myself). So that's a relief. Last weigh in was June I believe. I'd like to drop another 20 before leaving to see BF in December. . From a clothing, health, and visual perspective. I was at least 30 lbs thinner when he left a year ago.

Okay I'm going to start walking down to my pedicure now. I have an hour and it's probably only a half hour walk but this way I can take my time. Plus I'll bring my kindle and it never hurts to sit in the beautiful spa and just read. Will give me a change of scenery.

I just got home from a workshop.

Really amazing. We got to try out a bunch of new products, and they gave us all the leftovers. I spent $20 and came home with about $50 worth of free (consumable) products and got to make three mugs and a bowl (I need to fire them.) if I don't like how they come out I can easily sell them and get my $20 back! Plus I had fun with pottery friends.

Dh has been redoing the den as a music room, and back in the summer we ordered a shelf to go in it. The shelf is for me! The store just called and the shelf is ready, so we are going to pick it up. I get to arrange things on the shelf, and hopefully this will also help me find some more things to purge as I move stuff around.

No baby yet.

Good morning!

Tatoulia, I was rushing out the door and forgot to tell you good job making progress on your weight!

Dh has the shelf together and it is beautiful. I started putting things on it - so far a few pieces of pottery, a small stack of coffee table sized books, and my grandmother's antique knitting basket. (My mom has the matching basket - which belonged to HER grandmother - both purchased together when mine was still a girl - it is close to 100 years old.) the basket is pretty and sentimental but too fragile now to use. It is tall and narrow, so I had no good place to display it out of harms way, but these shelves are widely spaced and have black metal supports that frame rectangular open "boxes", and so it is now safely on view instead of tucked away in the basement!

I am already thinking about "thinning" some books. Starting by wandering through the house asking "what do I really love" seems to be more effective than looking at a small space and asking "what do I want to keep" or "what can I get rid of". Like, if it is an item that does not have a practical use - if it is not "shelf worthy" why am I keeping it?

Bean is not coming tomorrow unless his mother is having a baby because she is home on maternity leave now and wants to spend some time making him feel special before the baby comes. Also because he will have to spend at least two days with us very soon and she doesn't want to make it longer by starting on Monday. He has never been away from them for two nights. I will try to make good use of the time.

Good morning.

Yesterday was fairly difficult. I got stuck in puttering mode and didn't finish the tasks I need to do - like lesson plans and making milk into other food.

Related to the food thing - Dd posted on our family discussion last night that she "blames" me for "making" her cook everything from ingredients. Apparently she was making a clicklist for this week, and in anticipation of the baby was trying to order some prepared/easy meals and had to ask her Dh "what can we buy at the grocery store that is ready to eat and not fruit or donuts?

Anyway, yesterday. I have filled 3/4 of the new shelf. I found a dozen books I am planning to get rid of (including two very large coffee table books) and put two decorative items in the donate bin. Both came from Dh family and have associated stress and negative feelings. Dh told me to just stop thinking about it and donate them.

I got some more of my things out of the basement, including my cookie jars. My grandmother had a large collection of cookie jars. My mom also had a less large collection of cookie jars. They were always full of cookies. After my grandmother's death, my mom was sad that so few of the cookie jars were being claimed and asked me "don't you want any of these cookie jars?" I pointed out that the cookie jars I was fond of were the ones from her house that related to my childhood (and two that had been claimed by my aunt and cousin, which I didn't say, because I wasn't upset by it and my mom would have felt bad about not claiming them first so I could have them). To which she replied "oh, that makes sense. You take the ones you want now and I'll replace them with some of these!" So, I have five cookie jars. Three of them were packed away. Also, I need to make cookies more often!

The one bad thing is that in the course of rummaging around and moving things on and off of shelves, I have buried the scullery counter again. It is obvious that I have a terrible habit of mindlessly leaving things on the edges of shelves and tucked between and behind the things that are already there (and even on top of rows of books) instead of dealing with them properly at the moment (and often because the items have no actual place to go.)

I did yoga late in the day yesterday, which helped reset me a little, but it is clear that the routine of yoga is important to help me wake up and get going with my day. So, since I do not have Bean today and I do have a large, unfinished task list from yesterday, I need to get moving.

Bean tucked in,

Dd on the way to the hospital to be induced.

Good morning!

Goodwin, your trip sounds really exciting! Coming back from a trip always helps me see my place with new eyes. I bet traveling with so much less stuff will help you think about which things you really want to hold on to and which can go.

Let us know how the timer goes. I am more of a "focus deeply on one area, pull it all apart, ignore that everything else is getting worse, run out of time and leave a mess" kind of person. Although I do alternate with "decide to clear shelf, pick up an item to put it where it goes and then wander around for an hour being derailed by a chain of distractions"

Today I am back at my reset day (the weeks fly by!) the house is not too bad, but I do have a lot of laundry to catch up on, and I have not been keeping up with the scullery counter. Still, I only have to clean up one week worth of mess plus one thing. (And do prep for Friday/Tuesday/Wednesday of school.) I will update later.

Good morning!

I got the reset done on my house yesterday - living room completely picked up, table, entry bench, island and kitchen counters cleared, sinks empty in kitchen and scullery - two loads of dishes done, laundry down to no full loads left and all dried and put away, nothing on the floor or seating in the main living area or scullery, and the scullery counter back plus one thing.

I also added to my weekly reset list and accomplished - change sheets, towels, and bathmat.

Plus, I cleaned out the vegetable crispers and washed them - used some things to cook myself dinner and unfortunately gave the chickens a lot of zucchini that came from my garden, made hot fudge sauce, froze the custard, and finished cleaning off the top of the shelf in the scullery.

I did not do any school prep or planning, but I know what I'm doing in all my classes today, and worst case I will just pull out the copies for my first afternoon class one stack at a time, hand them to the kid closest to me and say "everybody take one and pass it on" and then repeat until they are all out and have them check the order and staple. Best case I'll get the packets done during lunch. I'll do next week tonight or this weekend and hopefully not need copies for Tuesday.

I got to bed a lot later than I wanted.

Dd had an appointment yesterday and it is likely but not yet planned that she will have the baby on Monday. (She will find out on Monday morning - or earlier if she goes into labor) I would much prefer Wednesday, but shockingly (lol) nobody cares.

Yoga time (I am currently experiencing very little knee or hip pain - even with the stairs at school!)

Hello everybody! Great work keeping up with yoga and the house, SubC. Hoping the baby comes smoothly for your dear daughter.

Some easy reset things that I like to do are making sure the cabinets are closed in the kitchen, making sure the bathroom towels are folded neatly and the shower curtain is closed, and any little bits of cat litter are swept. Small things that make a big difference for me. My bed is always made and my dishes are done nightly; strictly habit.

I must deal with the remaining mom stuff. I leave for my short trip in two weeks and my sister will be here. I dont know how to force myself to do it. Will need the badger.

WHO IS THE BADGER? We talk about having to badger ourselves to do stuff and we used to talk about sending the badger to each other's homes. So whoever has the badger, please release.

Tatoulia, I think the badger has been living under my bed, so I am sending him off to you!

SubC, when do you expect the new baby? Ours is due next month, but we all think he will make his appearance sooner. Hoping all goes well for everyone.

I have a headache but aside from that, I am feeling much better emotionally and physically. I saw the specialist for hopefully the final time and was told all is healed. Now that I have that year long order, I am starting to relax, although I still have times of deep sadness, missing my daughter, worrying about her etc. But I think this is for the best. I worked a lot this week and did a good job and felt happy working.

I continue to be blessed by people giving me excess from their gardens, from friends to strangers to people dropping things off at work. I am thankful but it is a lot of work keeping up with it. I do give some away too. I have more tomatoes than I can handle and already froze some, made soup, and made sauce. I dehydrated the cherry tomatoes. I am putting a lot in soup tonight.

Does anyone have a suggestion for keeping fresh tomatoes longer, when they are not totally bright red and are pretty firm?

I am also dehydrating squash today and cooking some corn and made smoothies with cucumbers in them. You would think I would be skinny by now, but nope.

I have been working on cleaning the play room and got it mostly done. A few things I think the kids no longer play with are going in the donate box and some other pieces that go to nothing are going in the trash.

How is everyone else doing today? I will do some catching up after I go and process the last few of my peaches (just slice/freeze).

I don't have a ton of energy right now - but I think it will return soon. The last three weeks or so have been pretty full. When it gets to be a flurry of activity I can't remember what I did a day or week previously without looking back at the calendar to jog my memory.

Bunnies were involved in the busyness, both my own with health concerns (positive outcomes) and the rescue organization's events keeping us busy. Please those who pray for such things, send up some for the rescue. It's too early and too delicate a topic to go into detail about at present, but they face some serious crossroads. It could turn out to be a blessing in disguise, but it could also have painful stages first. That's all I can say for now.

It's changed here from late summer feeling to "still summerlike temperatures yet it feels more like fall at times." I think it is the cooler mornings, and the days are getting noticeably shorter though not depressingly so yet. It is helpful to be able to do more things without the extreme heat. We are still under drought watering restrictions.

Decluttering projects will go easier with the milder weather. I took some donations on Saturday. Also, those small household miscellaneous projects, repairs, things needing a battery replaced, dumb stuff that's not difficult really but annoying... there are so many of them and they cause a sort of mental clutter. Trying to work through the backlog from the aforementioned busy days. Sure can pile up quickly.