Good afternoon.

Tatoulia, I know there are people who would love your mom's china. From what I understand, most people my age and younger don't have, and have never had, china. I do have two friends who have china and they invite us over and do tea parties. I LOVE it. I think there are other young folks who would enjoy having china for parties and such. I bet someone will love it! Maybe post it for sale cheap on Facebook Marketplace or something.

I am home sick again today, missing a big quarterly 5 hour long meeting, and I would have liked to be there, but I am just not well enough and might have even gotten everyone sick. I am enjoying a quiet day with my dog.

Tatoulia also, no worries, our city has a prescription/drug disposal bin at the police station. We just take all the old meds there and put it in, and they dispose of it properly. I would not want to harm our rivers and groundwater!

SubC, what a great way to get positive feedback! It's nice your dh is able to do this with you. I think most of us crave positive feedback. I know I do, and the only place I get it for home/clutter stuff is here. That's why I have all these threads about cleaning surfaces or items or daily tally... it is good when someone sees my progress, so thank you for the nice things you all say! Your point is not lost on me that getting better and resting is the most important goal - that was good feedback from your dh.

Mainly I am laying around. I decided not to turn on the tv all day like I've gotten into the habit of doing. I miss it, but I am doing more restful things. Baked a package of muffins. Made a treat for my dog. Clipped his nails, went outside to look at squirrels with him multiple times. Did some reading and thinking and gentle playing with the dog too.

I am soooo far behind on work that I am not sure how to handle it. I am too sick and brain-fogged to get any of it done WELL right now, so I'm waiting.

CM, boring tasks are the worst. But you'll feel good when you get it done! Also, I love Coke! I don't really care for soda except for a good cold Coke once in awhile, ahhhh. When I was heavier I would drink it every day. But now it is maybe 2 or 3 times a month, max.

It is so quiet. Everyone is gone from the house which is highly unusual, so it is good to have the tv off and be in the quiet. I can turn it on when everyone comes home and it is loud in here and I want to drown out all the noise!

p.s., I did unload and load the dishwasher today, too.

I need to go back and read some recent posts, but just wanted to say hello.

Thanks for the Candlemas wishes, SubC! It was nice that it fell on Sunday because I don't always get to weekday Mass on the day. Very nice with symbolism of Jesus being "a light of revelation to the Gentiles, and glory to my people Israel." Beautiful. Also, of course, Groundhog Day but as someone pointed out, if he sees his shadow winter lasts about six weeks either way. It's hard to believe it's February already, what with bad weather and being sick January was sort of a time warp. Super Bowl coming up, though I'm not into football but KC sure has been in a lot of them in recent years - Wichita has a lot of Chiefs fans.

Today was payday for me, so I ran errands. Not too many. I'm trying to not buy many groceries and stuff, eat up the backlog groceries here that I stockpiled for winter, and I hope that I can get the very wonky pantry back to neatness and order eventually. Things are piled in crazy ways, a situation which just devolved over time. It's another one of those things where there's not a whole lot of space, and I have thought of holders and baskets, even tried some in the past, but I end up buying different things in different shape or size boxes or cans, so that standardization just doesn't seem to happen. Oh well. I do still think thinning it out will help me perhaps envision some solution. And it will help me think about what items I use more efficiently and consistently vs. impulse buys that I don't always like when I get them home and they languish.

Right now I'm going to make beef with noodles for a late lunch.

Love reading your posts!

Today at work a woman who manages our London office told me she's moving to a bigger office and that she's going to decorate it and maybe bring in some tea cups. And I said, I have beautiful teacups that were my mother's and I'll bring two in. So I just washed two very precious floral cups from the 1940s. They are beautiful. So two cups and two saucers going out! She also asked about my mother's china, saying she'll buy it but when we looked it up, it's much whiter than the china set she has. My mother's is white with silver and her china is white with silver, and we were hoping the patterns will work well together. I would never sell it but if she can make it work, I'll give it to her. So some movement there.

I'm going to see if I can do anything tonight. Already late since I had trouble getting home and my feet were hurting so each step felt like an eternity, I'm afraid

Good morning.

Even that shortened list of goals proved too much. The counter is still a mess and I need to gather my thoughts for today's lessons. I also must go to the feed store on my way to school this morning.

Dh says my focus for this week should be getting healthy.

CM, I think now might be a very good time to focus on pantry eating. The whole tariff thing is likely to have effects on food pricing. I can only cross my fingers that it will encourage the use of farmers markets and local, in season eating as that becomes available.

Good morning.

CM, I hope your computer thing goes smoothly.

We have about an inch of snow on the ground this morning. It's supposed to warm up and rain all afternoon though.

Lila, keep resting!

My soda habit is store brand diet cola. It's one of the things I've been tracking. I'm allowing myself two a day, but find with the tracking, and drinking more tea - which is free at school, I'm averaging seven a week. I can't really decide which is healthier (less unhealthy?) the soda, or the sugary thing I would probably replace it with. I have a significant caffeine habit. If the aluminum tariffs raise the price of canned soda, maybe I will quit. (Soda, not caffeine)

Tatoulia, I hope your mother's china finds a place where it will be loved.

I actually have china. We used it when we were younger, and then we had kids and only used it on very rare occasions, and then it just became something displayed in the china cabinet. Dh would like to get rid of it. I would like to get back to using it. The trouble is that it has gold edging and has to be hand washed.

I ordered more books last night, but they are not here yet, so I will count them later. I was tired and shopped online instead of doing things I should have been doing, and then when I did go to bed, the moon on the snow was too bright and I had trouble falling asleep. Now I am tired again, and not ready for school.

Step one - get off the couch.

hi CM, nice to hear from you! Thank you for coming and posting! It is nice to come here and see familiar 'faces,' so to speak. I hope for new ones, too. Hi Tatoulia and SubC.

I am on my days off again finally. My dog is doing much better. I am sick now though, with a head cold that started yesterday. I'm very congested and tired. But, the grandkids are all off visiting a friend today, so it is quiet, and I will be trying to accomplish a few goals.

I have an abbreviated list, too, SubC. I will share it here, since it has been in my planner for over a week with no real progress.

- do something with all the tea that Star flung everywhere (tea bags, boxes, etc from a drawer, all mixed up, need sorting and a container and a new place to be)

- clean off the kitchen counters so there is space for things and for food prep. The counters are a disaster!! Stuff everywhere including like 10 different meds for the dog strewn around.

- clean off the bar/counter, which is piled higher than I am tall, for the same reasons

- work on my bedroom, which is a wide assortment of piles and stacks on every flat surface EXCEPT for the nightstand that I cleared last month and promised I would not re-clutter any newly cleared space. (It looks so nice, an oasis of order in a sea of chaos!)

- work on my master bathroom, another sea of chaos

- sort my meds. I have bottles of prescriptions everywhere and bags of newly filled bottles all over the place.

That is my planner list. I hope to do some of that today.

I also want to trim my dog's nails today.

Today I have:
- loaded and run the dishwasher
- called and reported income and household changes on my medicaid application
- cooked breakfast, watched tv, read for awhile

I really need to get some of this stuff done because the piles are awful.

I GOT MY BORING PAPERWORK THING DONE!!!

HAPPY DANCE!

The weather is lousy, but I had the foresight to obtain ice cream from the grocery store, which will do in lieu of Cold Stone Creamery.

Now, with that deadline thing out of the way, I guess I can start doing some more focused decluttering, among other things.

Well, we aren't making it to school today. His cough was just too bad for my conscience yesterday. I got subs.

I am planning to take him to school on Friday even if he is coughing, because the 2024 guidelines say ten days (when I looked them up, they are now labelled as an historical document no longer in force - there are no new guidelines) - my boss says "24 hours fever free and whenever you feel better" and kids are coughing and sneezing all over school all winter. I'm hoping he can go home Saturday.

I have an all day pottery workshop for teachers on Saturday and Dh has promised to stay home with Bean if his parents aren't ready for his return.

My appetite has mostly come back, but my weight has stabilized, which is good. I'd like to hang on to the weight loss. (I'd like to build on the weight loss) my energy level still isn't fully back though.

A friend came over last night and I gave her a bunch of eggs. The chickens and ducks have been laying because the heat lamp was on so much. She said the local grocery store was out. I told Dh we are rich because we have poultry.

No cleaning up or clearing out projects happening, although Bean is very slowly using up drawing paper - at the rate he works, I clearly have enough drawing paper to last his entire childhood.

post 2 today -

Well as sick as I am, I still got some things on my list done. I cleaned the kitchen counters. I started to sort my meds - took them out of the bags and consolidated them.

I also made soup, and rested.

I hope you all are having a good day.

Yay CM! I'm glad your boring paperwork is done! Congrats! Also, when we had a Cold Stone Creamery, my favorite was the cheesecake ice cream with chocolate chips mixed in, in a cone. I miss that!

Today I was still sick so stayed home. However, I am better enough that I could do some work at home, called, texts, planning, updating documents, writing schedules, making reservations. It was productive but wow, my brain is tired.

I didn't do much else. However, I had a new thought process.

It is my belief that we are to be a reflection of our creator to bring him glory. Of course, nobody is a great reflection. But my new thought process went something like this, when I was praying.

I want to be a reflection of him and his goodness. I don't want to be a reflection of chaos, dirtiness, disorder, and indulgence. I look around my bedroom, especially, and see complete disarray. It really is the opposite of what I want to reflect. Perhaps if I think about this as I work on my room, I can ask myself, "does this item add something good, or add to the chaos and disorder?" Then get rid of it if it is an agent of disorder.

I am tired.

Oh! Decorated for Christmas!

My decorations will be staying up for a very long time this year because Bean wants to help take the tree down. He won't be back until January 15.

I have just realized that although evaluations are due Jan 20, I have to finish them by the 13th, because my next week will be entirely taken up with Bean and his family. So I will start those today - it will be 20-30 hours of work.

The next week will be a success if I get those done, do yoga, keep the counter clean, and keep up on the laundry and dishes. Any real additional progress will need to wait for February.

CM, the storm looks bad in Kansas. I hope you are warm, safe, and have power!

Buddy is out of surgery and in the ICU for monitoring. The surgery apparently went well.

Today I am starting off the new year right!

- slept in
- thawed meat for dinner
- changed the water filters on the faucet and in the drinking pitcher
- did some reading
- loaded and ran the dishwasher

I will be relaxing, celebrating, cooking, maybe running to the store, putting random items away, and working on new goals.

Lila, I know you are at work today. You've been doing so much at home! Yes! Schedule that pedicure! I started getting pedicures again over the summer, I think. I used to get a manicure ince a week and a pedicure once a month. I'm back to the monthly pedicure and it is very relaxing. And my feet are so nice.

My friend is coming Friday to pack up my Christmas stuff. I've removed two of the items and put them in a donation bag. I've filled the donation bag with other things to get rid of and I'm pretty pleased.

SubC! I checked replacements and they have a lot of my mother's Minton china so I don't think they'd offer very much for it. Plus I'd have to pay shipping. I also checked eBay and there is quite a bit of her pattern there, too. So I'll box up 2/3 and donate to habitat for humanity restore. I'll reserve a car.

I've started to move my Christmas things to the dining table, so my friend can pack it up from there.

That is a lot of work to write all of those evaluations, SubC. I have to write the ones for my direct reports. So not students but still something to do. They are due this week.

Had dinner with my brother tonight. I had a funny feeling that I wouldn't see him again so I held on tight when I said goodbye. I hope it was just a weird feeling and not an indication that something would happen to one of us.

Hello!

Happy New Year! I have an appointment now, but I will post...something soon! 🙂

Happy new year!

I have been lazy today. Cleaned up a little, but mostly read a book (the whole book) I am not going to keep the book, so, that is progress.

Working on some planning for January. It is definitely going to be a month I need to get ahead of. Also some goal setting.

Dh goes back to work tomorrow. I go to Bean's house on Friday and back to school next week. I need to take Bean's family some things they forgot and some extra food.

Thankfully, the power stayed on. We aren't in the part of the state that was hardest hit, with highway closures and such. First time I ever recall getting a screeching emergency alert on my phone to not travel (wasn't planning to, prayed for those who had to and first responders, etc.). The governor declared a disaster emergency so as to facilitate relief efforts.

I had backed my roommate's car and my van into the driveway on Friday so that they would face south. Today the sun is out here and it has melted the ice off mine pretty well but roommate's will need another day; I had to clear snow off the windshields and hers is more between the houses so it gets fewer hours of sun. The days may be getting longer but they aren't long.

We've been sort of vegging, resting in the daytime and watching sitcoms in the evening.

Hope everyone is hanging in there with whatever weather and other things where you are.

SubC, been thinking about Buddy. Glad to hear things went well.

We are in for another round of bitter cold the next few days. Yuck. But it doesn't sound like there will be an ice storm or blizzard this time.

I'm glad you got to read the whole book! That will be one item out.

I have had such a nice day. TotsDad and my dil helped me clean and move things around. He vacuumed, took trashes out, moved furniture around, fixed my broken table, washed the dining room table, and cleaned the entry way. It is so much better! I helped with moving things etc.

I placed a grocery pickup order and am leaving soon to get it so I can make dinner. They are going to help me cook, and my son and his gf will come over for dinner (we will have 10 people here). I am about to bake a pie as well.

I am thrilled I have had so much time off and finally feel like it was enough. And tomorrow is another day off which is great. I will work on my goals and my decluttering and cleaning tomorrow too.

I also dyed my hair this morning. I am trying to find a balance between leaving it natural grey and dying it a light blonde... the issue is when I let it go a really long time my hair is basically white, and I think it makes me look way older. So, we'll see what I end up doing but for now the light blonde is okay.

P.S. SubC I did think about your rural setting and being used to the vagaries of weather a lot more, and having at least something of a community of others like yourself. I have accepted that I'm more of a semi-suburban gal than I realized. The outer limits of suburbia here are expanded out several miles from where they were when I was growing up so now this same general area is the "old" suburbs.

In any case, it's harder if one doesn't have a truck or SUV, and a garage, and sorry if this sounds old fashioned but I could really go for a nice husband who has practical skills with cars and home repairs. My roommate and I joke about the two perfect husbands who surely are out there somewhere, but must have gotten delayed in finding us. 😉

Buddy is doing well.

Dh and I have Covid.

Bean can't go home.

Today I:

- unloaded, loaded, and ran the dishwasher
- washed 2 loads of laundry
- went to the thrift store and dropped off two boxes of donations
- went to the library and donated a box of books (they sell used books)
- went to work briefly to clean my office, since I have a meeting there in a few days

I am proud of myself for carrying all of the boxes of stuff out to the car myself, a whole flight of stairs. I usually ask someone to carry things for me, but this year I am trying to build my stamina. I also carried the laundry up and down the stairs myself.

How you guys doing?

CM,

I'm glad you are safe and warm.

The very useful husband is definitely one of my best acquisitions. Today he put chains on the tractor and plowed us out. He also plowed from the house to both barns because he decided the snow was too deep for me to wade through. <3

There is no school tomorrow, which is good, because my evaluations are very slow going! Also our heat pump froze up, but we are cozy by the fire. This is getting to be a very expensive month - Dh car also needs an expensive safety issue repair he can't do.

Tatoulia, I'm glad you at least feel comfortable with your china decision. Will habitat sell it? I love to think of someone being set up in housekeeping and setting the table in their first home with beautiful China..

Very little progress today, but the counter is still clear except for six eggs.

Out into the cold to do chores..

Glad for good news on Buddy. Sorry about the covid. I'm just getting over it myself. Thought my shot from October would protect me longer. But I got a bad load of it dumped on me. It was a week ago Monday at the gym. Roommate and I had gone to a different branch and I was looking where various machines were, and encountered this chick doing lunges over a fairly wide area and coughing up a storm, no attempt to cover her mouth. I immediately retreated from that area but apparently not quickly enough. Very maddening. Today I feel much better. It is such a frustrating disease though, and I wish it had never come into existence. I want to find more nutritional things to boost my immunity.

Roommate's book downsizing is still ongoing and now that I'm well I'll be able to do more with the space cleared. We've been stalled in getting donations out because of my illness and the frigid weather here. Spring can't come soon enough for me.

Happy New Year!

Lila, thanks for the new thread!

CM! Glad you are safe! You are so smart with setting up the cars that way. I too would love a handy husband! Glad you got yours, SubC!

Habitat Restore will sell the items. Their store is nice. I picked up at least two tables for my mom there and I forget what else I've purchased there. Very nice furniture at excellent prices! They set up the Chiba and the glassware in nice shelves. It's a good place to go.

I'll talk to you later!!

Hi CM,

Thanks for popping in.

Buddy has all his tubes out but still has air in his chest cavity that shouldn't be there - another X-ray tomorrow.

Bean is still healthy, we are still sick. I'm putting a mask on and dropping Bean and plans for my sub at school tomorrow.

He misses his parents so much. ?

You should see him grin when they send pictures of Buddy though! And Buddy talks now! He wasn't making sounds before except wheezing or crying, but now it's not so hard to breathe, he has a whole range of coos and shrieks!

One day at a time.

Happy new year Tatoulia! Good morning!

Lila, good for you making those small steady changes to improve your fitness. And for getting all those things out of your house! You didn't say, but I hope you enjoyed your dinner.

I am trying to slowly add things back after my long vacation and make choices that will help me pare down.

On the first I added yoga and working on my counter (which got buried again during all the company)
Yesterday I continued with the yoga and counter and added journaling. I also did school work (updated my class lists and wrote my thank you notes - recycling some paper and using cards from my desk). Plus I caught up with laundry.

Today I go to Bean's house to watch the boys (the church is having a blood drive for Buddy and Dd and dsil are working it) I'll drop the recycling on the way and also some trash since I have to get gas. I'm staying late so the kids can go out to dinner and get some downtime and a chance to talk where Bean can't overhear them.

By the end of the weekend I want to be caught up on the counter, the laundry, the dishes, and planning for school for the week. I also need to get feed. The accumulation of feedbags in my barn is becoming absurd so I think the next routine I need to add is regularly cleaning those for recycling. It is easier in the summer, but I did not make the time. Step one will be finding an easy space to clean them in when it is cold outside. (In the absence of trash service, throwing them "away" is harder and more complicated than cleaning and recycling)

Hi everyone! Checking in! Very cold here in the Northeast but no snow in my parts.

I'm doing better around the house, and that is helping with my mood. Very stressful at work but I'm trying not to freak out

Bean is now sick.
He can go home January 31, I think.
I am so tired. I have another sub lined up for Friday, but not the following week. I will definitely have to be out again on Tuesday, but if he feels better and hasn't had a fever for 24 hours school policy is he can come to preschool on Wednesday and Friday. - which explains why we currently have five teachers out sick - the best guidance I can find is people are contagious for ten days after onset of symptoms, possibly 14 days after exposure.

Buddy is home, off his pain medication, happy and chatty! The eating difficulties he had before surgery are gone.

I found a pair of snowman mugs to get rid of when I was looking for a small bowl for Bean.