Happy solstice!

Lila, you are doing really really well. I know all the things around teen are very hard for you. I wish you peace and I hope that one day teen will find herself again.

We are at my in-laws house. We'll be opening gifts this morning with ds family on remote. Dh brother in law has Covid, so they are not coming, but Dh brother's family will arrive at lunchtime with my girl. She spent the night with HER favorite cousin last night.

Thanks SubC, it is hard work but also is healing work.

I went in my room today and opened the plastic 3 drawer bin full of Teen's things. I found a small bin and put most of it in there and it will go in the other room. I threw out some craft paper and an old notebook of hers that had nothing written in it.

I also took out all my sweaters this morning, tried them on, donated one, put the ones that are a bit tight into a drawer and the ones that fit now into the drawer where I can easily get them out to wear.

I also took that box of Teen's fragile things out from under my desk in my room, wrapped them in paper and put them all in a small tote, and put the tote in the closet of the smaller storage bedroom.

In the process, I found the tote of spices I have been looking for forever! Really glad about that.

Sunday post 2 -

- Sorted CDs (shared in Daily Tally) so there is no longer a tower of them in my bedroom
- took a box of dog poo bag rolls off my bedroom floor and found space for the rolls in a drawer, so that is off the floor
- took a box with shoes in it off the floor and put it on a shoe shelf in my closet
- took a few items off the floor and put them where they go

Slowly but surely, the floor is getting cleared.

I decided to sort the random boxes of stuff in my room and whatever I keep will go in its place or into that 3 drawer bin I just emptied of Teen's stuff. Then that bin will go in the storage room. Mostly it is tools and stuff. When TotsFam moved out, those tools will have a space in the garage or storage shed.

hi SubC,

yeah, you have to subscribe to a recycle can service, pay for the can and then pay a weekly fee to recycle glass (on top of the usual garbage bill). It is not in the cards for me right now, and I don't have enough that I would recycle much glass. Maybe one or two jars/bottles a week, max. Silly way to do it, IMO.

I had a good day. It is sunny but rather cold but I did get the back of my car sorted out (and some more things added to the Daily Tally), put the donations in there, and dropped them off at the donation place (3 boxes of stuff). It felt good to get all that stuff out of my bedroom. I ran some other errands too.

I am doing laundry and have a party to go to. I am not really a party person, but I value the connections I will make there, so I am going, even if briefly. I bought a few groceries because I needed something to bring today and also to a lunch with a few people tomorrow. I used a gift card to buy the one bag of food I got.

As much as I enjoy the social events, I also find them draining, and am looking forward to a few days of no people.

Good morning!

Lila, I disapprove of that method of recycling!

When I had trash service, it was an extra, non-optional dollar for the recycling bin. (Which was way too small)

Now I put my recyclables in the township drop near work - which is "free" (funded by the township, which takes 1% of my paycheck)

I hope you enjoyed your party.

My people days continue, just with different people. Today we drive to the in-laws where my niece will be bringing dd2 from the airport. Tomorrow night we continue on to my parents, taking dd2. Bean's family catches up with us Monday night. A dear family friend will join us for dinner one night, and I hope to get together with my favorite cousin. We drive home bringing dd2 on Christmas Day and Birdy's family is expected to beat us to the house. I think everyone leaves on the 28th.

This morning the mandatory things are finish packing and do chores.

The hopeful things are clean up dishes and the dining porch table (before Dh wakes up because he wants me to just leave it). I have given up on the counter of doom.

That's a lot of people SubC, I hope you do have some time with your cousin. My party went well. I mainly sat and talked with a handful of people who I like. Today I have another social thing but I think only 4 other people, for lunch. So I need to make a side dish to take, and it won't be stressful or take too much time.

Now that my boxes are gone from my room, I have space to keep sorting. I do need to vacuum, it has a lot of dog hair in there.

I am finding it harder and harder to find things to get rid of, since, as you know, I have been sorting and re-sorting my bedroom literally for years, and hundreds of things have gone out of there, but there is still too much. With TotsFam taking over all my spare room and garage, there is not much space anymore. Even the little room I was going to use for sorting is pretty full of stuff (mine - maybe I should sort in there) and a crib and a bed.

I guess my goal for today is to vacuum my bedroom, empty the shipping box of dog treats and put them away, and put that box in the back yard for Son to use when he and the kids pick up all the toys out there.

Saturday update -

Okay, I forced myself and met my little goal:

- vacuumed my bedroom (not perfect, but got all the hair and dust bunnies)
- emptied the big box, put the dog treats away, and put the empty box in the backyard for Son to use to pick stuff up

I also moved the package of toilet paper from the middle of the room to the cabinet in the bathroom, and moved the package of kleenex from the floor to the other room.

Now I feel stuck and am hoping to get unstuck. There is so much stuff in my room that seems "important" to me, but I am not using it. Thinking about boxing some of that at putting it in the other room to deal with later. Maybe as I box, I will be able to donate a few things. And I just want a cleared bedroom for the new year.

I am lonely and want to talk through what my decluttering process has been morphing to, so here's another update.

My other son came over and needed boxes, so I was able to consolidate a few boxes plus give him some empty ones. That made space.

Then I picked up a bag and a box of books on my bedroom floor. I was able to make space on a shelf for some of them, put a bag of them together that are going to my office, and one to donate. There are two books left I need to find a space for.

I think one of my goals is to get things up off the floor. So those being gone, boxes gone, other things put away, are helping.

It really is not even close to as bad as it used to be. It is just scattered. That is why I am thinking, put all the scattered stuff on the floor into a box. Anything I will be using within a month can stay in my room instead of being boxed. The box can then go into the other room, for now. I will try to sort more as I move things.

I am really sick of a lot of this stuff.

I have stuff I saved for Teen in case she ever gets into her right mind/stable. I sent 90% of her things with her. I hear she is losing, ruining, selling all those things. I feel a little broken hearted about all her childhood things getting ruined. So I have a few, very few, things left here of hers. I really ought to get one tote and put it all in there instead of in little boxes all over the house. I think that is a good answer, because I do have one small open box of fragile things of hers in my room under my desk. I want it out of there.

What else is in my room?
- a tower thing of CDs
(I don't think I even have a CD player anymore)
- totes of tools and picture hangers and stuff
- a 3 drawer thing... full of... mostly Teen's childhood stuff. Gosh it makes me sad, I am almost crying.
- boxes of random things. I have sorted them probably 6 times in the past 3 years

You know, just typing this out, I think it is doable. In fact I may just be ready to get rid of more things now. Hope to do this tomorrow and get it into my car immediately so I don't change my mind.
-

Good morning!

We had a lovely time with our friends last night.

Before they arrived I got the fudge made so I could send some home with them. I also finished getting the second bedroom ready (all the bedrooms are ready now) partly cleaned and decorated the dining porch (the table is buried in a mess of mostly papers), made some progress on the counter of doom, cleaned up the great room, and kept both wood stoves going to keep the house warm.

I took one crate of pottery made by me out to my studio loft, stashed three laundry baskets of mess in my laundry room, and added a couple of semi-sorted bins to the mess in my basement.

I sent the fudge home in a decorative tin I had saved and am counting as an item out. I also put simmering potpourri I was gifted last year in the kettle on the woodstove. I am planning to use it up this year. It was nice, but very subtle.

I go pick the boys up this morning. My plan is to decorate the tree and play in the snow. It is going to warm up to freezing by lunch time with a high of 38 late afternoon. Their Daddy is coming at the end of the day to pick up all three of us, and we are meeting Dh and Dd at the zoo to go to the Festival of Lights. Then Dh will take me home. I don't expect to make any house progress.

Tomorrow I teach and fire the kiln, then on Thursday I need to stock up the feed for the farm sitter, wrap the Christmas presents, do laundry, finish cleaning/decorating and pack to go visit our parents. Friday I teach again and panic, and Saturday we head out.

Off to get busy..

Worked today and yesterday, but not that many hours. Just a few. It is nice. We had our work Christmas party too. It was nice. I hear you talking about snow and I hope we get a little sometime! It has been in the mid to high 60s here, very unusual, some weird pineapple express thing, causing high winds and floods but in between, nice sunny days!

I am chipping away at my list of things to get done that are not work related, and that feels good. Today I vacuumed some, and brushed a dog, and will go to bed early. Hoping to declutter this weekend.

Good morning!

Lila, I'm glad you are having good days.

I ended up stopping at the feed store with the boys yesterday. The feed store manager - we'll call him Joe. Small town, we're on a first name basis - brought the hand held register thingy out to my car so I didn't have to unload Buddy. Then he asked if Bean wanted a candy cane. Bean said yes. Joe asked if Bean wanted to pick it out (fruit flavored assortment)- yes. So I'm watching through the open door as Bean and Joe walk to the counter, have a short conversation, and Bean returns carrying a shrink wrapped box with Joe behind him. I said "[Bean] that doesn't look like *A* candy cane." Joe shrugged, grinned, and said "not my problem - merry Christmas!" So we started decorating the tree by opening a box of 48 candy canes and hanging 46! (Two were eaten).

The tree is not done, but Bean hung ornaments until he was tired of it - and Buddy played with them. We are working on not taking them back off of the tree and I'm not hanging anything fragile this year. With 46 candy canes, it does not look sparse. I plan to finish it tonight.

We had fun sledding. I think Buddy enjoyed it, but not as much as playing with the tree and watching ducks in the snow.

The festival of lights at the zoo was also cool. We enjoyed the displays, lights, and music, went through the nocturnal house and saw some animals, got hot cocoa, Bean rode the carousel, and we saw Mr. And Mrs. Claus. I got home very tired last night.

Today I unload the kiln before school, teach, load the kiln, and fire it. A former student is coming to visit at lunch time. I'm looking forward to it. I have a list of things I NEED to accomplish in the evening, and a list of things I want to accomplish. We'll see how it goes.

I want to stop at the fancy grocery store after school and buy a few specific candies and cookies for our celebration. They have the best graham crackers.

Good morning!

Did the school things and the need things yesterday and had a nice visit with my former student. Also stopped at the grocery store, which was very unsatisfactory as they have discontinued two of the candies and one cookie I wanted! I did get one candy variety and one cookie variety.

I did not finish decorating my tree. I was too tired.

I got my "Christmas gift" from school yesterday - the school offers families the opportunity to contribute toward a group cash gift for teachers if they wish rather than doing an individual gift. The cash comes with a card with all the names of the contributors and the administration is always the last name on the list. I am becoming skeptical about the accounting system, because this is the third year in a row it has come out to exactly ten dollars per contributing family regardless of number of children. It seems like it should sometimes be less and possibly sometimes more. I do appreciate the gift, I just wonder if there is some redistribution happening - like a family gives X amount for a certain number of teachers and the money is distributed to even out each teachers card based on other contributions rather than divided evenly, and then admin kicks in whatever else is needed? I also received a card from an individual student with more than $10 in it, and a small beeswax candle. I will do a thing tally for teacher gifts after tomorrow.

This morning I need to do chores and drive into town to have my glasses rechecked. I got new ones and have been wearing them for four days and have not adjusted to the left eye, so I think the prescription is off. Then home to get as ready to leave as I can.

hi SubC and messi and Tatoulia and where are you CM? Road come back!

SubC, your days sound festive with the grandkids. So lovely. I got a surprise day to work at home instead of having to go in! I will only work about 2 hours. I am enjoying the peace. It is raining so we are all stuck inside, which is nice for a cup of coffee or tea. I prefer the sun so I can take out trash and clean out my car, but maybe tomorrow.

I am taking almost a week off work next week and my main goal is to have a nice clean decluttered bedroom at the end of that. I will work on it every day for a bit. Trying to donate more and reach my Daily Tally goal. Will update!

I started saving a lot of glass jars and bottles because I can use them for storing things, leftovers, making pickles etc. But it is turning into a lot of bottles. Any tips on how to decide which ones to keep or toss? There is not glass recycling near me, and you have to pay to have it picked up. So... looking for ways to know what to keep and what to throw out.

I will come back and update how I did on my bedroom today. I tend to avoid it and do other things, so this will help me stay accountable.

Bedroom update -

It doesn't look much different, but I got a lot done. Sorted 2 drawers and some other areas in there. Did not get the vacuuming done; I had an emotionally upsetting phone call and lost my motivation for a bit. But I did get rid of a lot of stuff, as evidenced by the Daily Tally posts.

I am at a stage in life that it feels, sometimes, like nothing I own really matters. I just don't even want this stuff anymore. I have emotional attachments to a lot of it that keeps me from getting rid of things. But I want a clean room. I have a lot of things I can't find because of all the clutter. I am going drawer by drawer and reassessing everything in each one. When I am done I can put stuff in there so things are not all over every surface, but I also do not want to fill the drawers up with junk. I just want less stuff, but to keep and be able to find the things that matter.

I wish all my kids had homes they were living in permanently or at least for a few years, so I could box everything up and give them anything I think they want. They could do whatever they want with it all.

I am just so over it, the whole thing.

I have 2 boxes full to go in the car for donation, hopefully tomorrow, if it stops raining.

Good morning!

I woke up early today.

Lila, I hope it stopped raining so you can take your boxes.

I'm sad that you don't have glass recycling because glass is the most recyclable thing, but just keep what you know you will use. If you aren't sure and you are still buying something in that container - get rid of it.

I'm not sure what "you have to pay to get rid of it" means - will getting rid of it increase your expenses? Or is it included in paid trash service? Or is there a pay as you go recycling option?

I am with you on just wanting functionally space, but it is still so hard to let go.

I struggled yesterday because it was dark and gloomy. I had so much to do, and I read an entire book.

I did finish decorating my tree and wrap most of the presents.

I have three to go - one requires a couple of repair stitches, one may be ready, but I'm thinking about changing a bell, and Dh will pick up Bean's (used, Craigslist) bike this afternoon.

The big table on the dining porch is not cleaned off.
The counter of doom is not cleaned off.
I need to pack after school today and we are picking up a rental car for the trip.
I need to get to school early and unload the kiln.

Dh says it is nice to see me not stressed out this year. Mostly I am not stressed out because I have lowered my expectations and his parents are not coming to my house - my kids grew up in this mess. It is better than it was then, so it is enough. And I just want to go see my parents. I am feeling how short that time is.

Ok, I need to see if I can get a few things done before I leave for school!

I am here, SubC! You are doing a lot. I hope you are staying healthy. Feeling cold is not good. Maybe have some hot tea.

SubC and messi, your kind words about me really touched my heart! Thank you for that. I feel so scattered and get mad at myself for the state of my house. But you guys helped me feel better. Can you both pleaaase come over for a little visit and some coffee???? (Actually it is flooding here, so you better wait. My house is safe.)

I feel very good about the last 2 days, I think I have finally decompressed and can relax because I had my last big event, over 100 people and it went very well. I have a few weeks of no events that I "own." I have some I will go work in support, but not MY events. Much easier.

Today I:
- hand washed dishes
- made cheese spread
- made a dish with beans, peppers, shallot, parsley, lemon, and olive oil
- got a haircut
- ran errands and got myself some new loose leaf teas that were new to me
- went to a social event for some friends
- paid bills and answered emails

I was also asked by someone I don't know to come and speak at an engagement in January about an hour away. I am honored that they asked me but I have to ask my boss. Yesterday I did laundry, washed and changed my sheets, made a drink out of apples, cranberries and orange zest, made soup, and made some cranberry treats dipped in dark chocolate.

Looking forward to work tomorrow.

Good morning!

Lila, i'd love to come over. Can i have a sandwich? They sounded good. I'm glad you get to relax for the rest of the holidays. Are you sure you want to travel and speak in January?

It is 2 degrees F here this morning. Two. Fortunately we got six inches of snow yesterday, which helps insulate the barn, and I plugged in heat lamps, but two is very cold for us. I'll be leaving the animals shut up and feeding hay and corn for warmth today. Tomorrow is supposed to be the same.

I should get the wood stoves going, but I don't want to go into the garage for wood! Dh has to plow us out this morning because we are going to see our friends in a play. It's community theatre, but very high end because it draws talent from an entire city.

I worked on ds and ddil's room some more after I posted last night. What is left fits in four laundry baskets. Unfortunately, I have nowhere to stash four laundry baskets. Actually, that is silly, because I have had far far more than four laundry baskets of mess stashed in this house as recently as last Christmas.

I have nowhere to stash four laundry baskets without making an already cleaned out area messier and less functional. My standards have gotten higher. My house looks like a house that normal people live in with two REALLY messy rooms and a nightmare room in the basement.

I have recently been getting positive reinforcement from Dh. He has even accepted that I have narrowed the path through the messy storage side of the basement to the new part where he has set up his trains. We used to fight about it a lot because he wanted it kept completely clear 4' wide. Now it is more like 2.5-3' because I have stacked bins and boxes along it, but he is realizing that letting me do that is allowing me to make the rest of the house the way he wants it and he is starting to trust that I will eventually sort through and reduce the bins and boxes.

Anyway, my probably unrealistic goal for the day is to finish cleaning off the bed, clear the counter of doom, and clean up the dining porch. I think I may end up carrying a few bins/boxes/baskets out to my studio loft in the barn for temporary storage, even though that will mess up what was almost an organized space.

I also need to shower, dress up, go to the play, stop at the grocery store for food for tomorrow/the rest of the week, and make the fudge that I traditionally make for friends at Christmas because that has to be given out this week as well.

Although I can make fudge while Bean and Buddy are here tomorrow. I'm sure Bean would like to scrape out the pot.

Sitting on the couch wishing it wasn't cold isn't getting me anywhere...

Good evening.

I did not finish any of those spaces, but I made some progress on each of them.

We attended and enjoyed the play and went to the grocery store.

I cleared off the bottom half of the solar panels, so we made a small amount of our electricity today, and I made a fire in the little woodstove , which took the chill off the dining porch.

I kept the animals supplied with liquid water. They are doing fine. Tomorrow it will get down to -1 and then warm up to the 20s.

When we went to the play, we discovered that many of the roads have not been cleared . Dh is a very good driver, but others are not and I am less confident than he is. After consultation with the kids it was decided that Bean and Buddy will come on Tuesday instead of tomorrow. I will make fudge and clean more tomorrow. Our friends are still coming for dinner around 5, so that should give me motivation to really stick in to the cleaning.

I found three things to get rid of today.

Brrr, SubC. 2 degrees for you, maybe less today. It is cold here, but not quite that cold. Low teens, single digits at night. You have been managing and arranging a lot of things, including events. I hope your evening with friends is enjoyable and that getting ready is not too stressful.

Lila, it would be amazing to try some of your edible creations! Such good work with your spending/eating challenge and with your grocery trip. Inspiring.

December is such a busy month. And I just get slower with cold weather. I had planned to do a grocery trip at the beginning of the month, but still have not had the time to do it. The event that I've been preparing for is tomorrow evening so after that maybe I can get to the store. I did make a quick stop to get personal items for donation to the shelter.

Also after Tuesday, i hope to do work on the mess. One of the areas of work is to sort through all the broken electronics,(including computer) etc. and make an appointment with the e-recyclers to drop them off.

The sun is out enough to walk the dogs so I will go do that before going for allergy appointment. Stay warm...

good evening! the temperature has risen just enough to add dampness to the air, so i feel colder even though it is warmer.

Lila, I am imagining a woman on a couch brave enough to tackle all of that! who is a creative cook, pulls it together to make presentations in front of large groups, is succeeding on a economic fast, who constantly cares for other people and creatures. Admirable.

SubC - it sounds like - it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! You've planned so much for your holiday, even with setbacks and things still in coming. So nice.

I feel a "little" stymied on progress. Visits to the vet, I've started a series of allergy shots, an unexpected and welcome visit with a relative who lives far away, preparation for a holiday event next week - all have delayed making any progress on cleaning, sorting, donating, excising... but trying to keep on keeping on. December! There is a little space on my counter of doom, but the sink is a vortex of dishes waiting for tomorrow morning.

Good morning.

Lila, I understand what you are saying, but I also don't want to imagine you like that. I put the image in my head and then imagined the dog and children quieting down, the phone calls ending, the computer behaving, and in general peace descending upon you.

Messi hang in there! Some days it's ok if it just doesn't get much worse.

We recently saw a couple we like but only see once a year. They asked how our year had gone and I thought for a minute about the past year and then said "fantastic." "(Buddy) had his surgery and it went great. He isn't allowed to play the trumpet and will probably never run a marathon, but medically he's a regular, healthy toddler. Nothing else matters." And it's true. There are other things that have gone well this year, and things that have gone badly, but that is really the one thing that outshines it all.

Last night I did not sleep well.

Woke up cold also. I've been nothing but hot for so long that that feels very strange.

Yesterday I cleared off the small table on the dining porch. I made the counter of doom better, but not done, and I made a little progress on the room where Birdy will sleep.

I also washed all the laundry and put the lights and the sheet (tree skirt) on the tree. If you remember Linus's blanket wrapped around Charlie brown's tree- that is the style of my "tree skirt" except it is a red sheet from the thrift store. I made the counter better, but not done.

I have to finish all the clean up this weekend. We have plans for Sunday afternoon and friends coming for dinner on Monday. I teach Wednesday and Friday, and then we leave for my in-laws and when we come back, Birdy arrives.( with his parents)

Bean wants to help me put the ornaments on the tree Monday when he is here. That will be the latest I have ever decorated the tree, but it will be fine - I have so much else to do!

Today I need to get to school early to meet Bean because his daddy needs to drop him off early. After school I need to return Birdy's gift (and find an alternative?)

Tomorrow is my last day of class and the studio Christmas party. The kids need me to watch the boys in the afternoon, so Dd is providing my potluck dish and I am taking the boys to the park/library/decorated big box store? depending on weather and then to the studio where she will meet us for the party. Friday I teach again.

Dh has to travel for work today (he found out yesterday afternoon, so it was good that I did the laundry!) and won't be back until Friday night.

Ok, I have to get moving!

Good morning again!

I have survived Dh trip. I thought I was going to get so much done in the evenings, but actually I was just exhausted.

Today will be a big laundry and clean up day, and I need to get heat lamps set up in the barn because it's going to drop to single digits. But I don't have to go anywhere.

Yesterday was a good day at school. The kids had a mini makers market at lunch and I bought a few trinkets for stocking stuffers. Some of our kids are very talented.

Thursday also went well. I didn't have a lot of work for my last class, but the firing went well and it was a nice social ending for the group. Several of us are talking about starting a regular alternative firing group to meet once a month for a full day in the spring. I made it to my staff meeting, and stayed a bit to get things together for the kids in case of a snow day - which we didn't have, so I was ahead on Friday.

I ended up just watching the boys at their house for a couple of hours while dsil - who was not feeling well - took a nap. Then I took them to the studio party where we had a good time. Bean was very proud that he helped make the pumpkin muffins we took as our contribution. Even more when the host gave a short welcome speech mid meal and said that if you hadn't gotten one yet, you should because they were delicious.

I took a pot in a bag for the exchange and had Bean choose which bag I should take home. I got a very pretty bowl and told him he's a good picker. That's a 1 for 1, so I don't have to count it.

My biggest day of the week was Wednesday though. I found someone to take the younger pottery classes next year. It was important that admin and I all agreed because I will be sharing space and working very closely with this person. I wasn't sure how I would feel when the quest became a reality, but the answer is that I feel good about it.

I will be proposing to work tu/th mornings and all day Wednesdays. That is the same number of hours I have now, but fewer classes (6 instead of 8) and students because tu/th classes are the same class twice a week, so the administrative burden is lower. If any of my classes don't fill, I will work less. I find I am ok with this.

I have had a lazy start to my morning and am ready to get moving now. I hope everyone has a good day!

Good evening.

I wish someone was around.

The heat lamps are on and the laundry is nearly done (for today)

But I feel like I have spent my whole day moving things around. Perhaps because I have.

Birdy's room is ready, but the bed for his parents is buried - partly with things that were already there, and partly with things that were in his room.

I moved a shelf and found a mouse nest - but no mouse.

I put a very few things in the recycling and trash, but nothing I feel like I can count. I think about how nice it would have been to have spent today baking and decorating instead of sorting and cleaning, but I still cannot figure out what to let go. It is frustrating and exhausting.

Good morning.

It's very quiet here.

Yesterday we had a high of 29 degrees. I woke up with a really bad migraine and skipped my class. Which I am a little sad about. The meds didn't work fully until I had taken multiple doses. I mostly puttered around the house barely doing anything until after lunch time when I finally felt better. By which time I was pretty exhausted from being in pain.

I did make it to my eye appointment and order new glasses.

I found two things from a Christmas box that can go and picked out 14 cars from our extensive collection that can go in the new hot wheels case I bought Birdy for Christmas. His Mommy just gave him her cars, but her case is falling apart. The new case holds 100 cars. She has 50. I'm pretty sure the ones I picked out were ds's. There are over 200 cars at my house. Mine, a few of dh's and three kids. They came in cereal boxes for a while. Bean only plays with a small basket of them. I want Birdy to have room in his case to choose for himself when he gets bigger and not have to downselect too many. 14 seems like plenty to play with while he is here. Actually too many, but the case will seem empty!

I need to go because I overslept. I hope someone will check in.

How are you handling the holiday run up? Advertising, expectations, the darkness? I hope CM is doing ok.

Hello, hello. Brr brr brr. It is chilly here in the midwest.
SubC - I'm so sorry about your migraine. I hope this next day is free from it. Nice that you got enough relief to sort cars. Quite the collection. I think Birdy will be pleased.
It sounds like it was a lovely Thanksgiving. Glad you made it back before snow. I had a good Thanksgiving. I helped serve the meal at a shelter on T-day and celebrated with family on Saturday at my brother's house. Both lovely events.
Then snow came. It was lovely, but the next day I just got slow. SAD maybe catching up with me. I feel very behind, like I'm standing still or going backward. This month is so full of events, it's hard find time to stay afloat. Then, I think of you all, also working on things and I hope to follow suit. This month, thinking of Lila, I plan to track my spending - ON PAPER!
I am crashing. more later...

15 more days til the daylight begin to lengthen. (-:

Slow start this morning.

Messi, I'm glad you had a good thanksgiving! I think the light affects a lot of us. I also struggle with SAD.

I think tracking your spending can also help you see where you are bringing things into your house that you don't need and help you focus on what is there. Be careful not to let it get you into a scarcity mindset that will make you hoard more in fear of future spending though.

I found three more cars for Birdy - duplicates, so I know they belong to his daddy. Current inventory of cars remaining in this house - 207. Plus I'm sure some random ones scattered about. I had a case of 24 when I was a kid, and it was plenty! My brother had at least twice that and we played together.

Dh and I are going to get our tree this morning. I have a friend coming at 1:00 to do some pottery and Dh and I are going out to hear the Messiah tonight.

Bean's parents suddenly(?) decided to take the boys to a winter event I used to love to take the kids to when they were small and invited me along, but it is a long drive from here and since I already had plans and have too much to do, I told them to pencil me in for next year if Bean likes it. Buddy will be big enough to really get into it next year.

Enough sitting around!

Good evening.

I did not get to go to the Messiah because Dh developed a cold with a nasty cough. And I am not going 8nformation the city at night alone!

But. I did, drumroll please - clear off the counter of doom!
And the tree is in the stand and I found one more thing to get rid of.

I also emptied one vegetable crisper drawer and the top shelf of my fridge. I did give the chickens about a quart of spoiled food. Mostly things only Dh eats that got pushed to the back in small amounts.

I am eating canned soup because I am lazy and Dh has no appetite and wanted canned soup.

We will have a quiet evening in.

Good morning.

I had kind of a challenging day with the boys yesterday. Buddy was fussy and into everything, and Bean had too much energy, but it was both muddy and freezing outside. Also, the plans got changed around late Sunday night so that I needed to pick them up, which was not optimal. Usually dsil brings them to me so I can get ready for them in the morning.

Last night Dh and I rearranged the great room to set up the Christmas tree. It is not the way we usually do it and feels very disruptive to me. I actually like it, but I feel off kilter because it is too different.

One positive result (besides vacuuming under furniture that rarely gets moved) is that I am feeling inspired to attack the house like a whirlwind today to regain a sense of control.

The last child present I was waiting for arrived yesterday, but unfortunately it is absolute junk. It's a hot wheels case for Birdy, and the car slots are weird angles and most of the cars don't fit unless you put them loose in the oversized slots- of which there are too few. The latches are lightweight plastic and would be broken in days. So I will be returning it (in store, to Target) and trying to find an alternative.

We are also getting Bean a bike we do not have yet (used, Craigslist) but Dh is in charge of that. And I ordered books for ddil that have shipped but not arrived yet.

The counter of doom is buried again, but hopefully not for long.

I miss everybody and wonder what you are up to.

Good job on the counter of doom, SubC. How ya doing messi?

Imagine me sitting on the couch surrounded by work papers and dog hair, trying to work from home on a laptop that is breaking down with lines jumping across the screen, with the tv on to try and drown out the constant screaming and crying of babies, eating stuff I am sick of, taking dozens of calls, texts and emails while trying to keep my dog from barking and jumping constantly at the new foster dog in her crate, while trying to roast garlic without burning it and wondering how I am going to manage over the next few weeks, with stains on my clothes and my hair all sticking up with my eyes glazed over.

ahhhhhhhhhhhh