Did yoga, did some pottery, cleaned up a few things in the studio and collected a plastic grocery bag of trash. Made small progress on the basement, but two of the boards were cut too long (I mismeasured), so I need more help.

Tomorrow is a long day at school because I have parent meetings from 6:30 to 8:30. Since class gets out at 3:30, I won't come home.

I need to pack food.

Yay for Yoga, SubC!! I sure could use some. Hope you survived your long day. My day is long because I am being insomanaical (sic). I was feeling blue but late in the game I got 1- 1/2 things done and felt better. One by One is How things get done (however slowly, in my case). Have good days, everyone. (get more sleep than me)

Good morning.

I'm sorry you aren't sleeping well Messi, it makes everything harder. I have no idea what decade you are in, but I can't sleep lately as a side effect of menopause. I just keep hoping to ge5 through it.

Last night I was really tired from a long day at school with parent conferences, and I managed to sleep from 10:30 to 5:15. I even went back to sleep instead of getting up at 5:15, but dh's alarm went off at 6 and I woke back up with a migraine, so it's been a slow start this morning.

I've decided to start a policy for October that if I leave the house, something else leaves the house. Yesterday it was a grocery bag of trash. (And the single stream recycling, but that isn't going to count)

Today I am only going as far as the little local market to try to sell pottery. If I sell anything, that will be great, but I can't count on it, so I'm going to clean the fridge out. I'm pretty sure there are a couple of things in there that can go to the chickens and I will count that.

The rest of my morning will be spent getting myself together for the market and working on pottery. I'm planning to take some handwork to the market for downtime (I think there will be a lot) and this evening I need to prep school stuff. That is my plan for today. (Plus dishes and one load of laundry)

Good morning!

I'm going to try to be quick because I didn't do my maps yesterday. I did do yoga and ticket and lesson plans, and I cleaned up more than I messed up (again, one pot waiting for next load) - the kitchen looks good

My "three things" were sort of fuzzy -

I set out to find a thing - I did not find the thing, but I did make the barn studio cleaner and collect a plastic grocery bag of trash to drop when I get gas this morning. I also found some recycling and things to take to school and use up there.

I worked on the basement project - put down more mats, moved a rug, and Dh helped me carry the play kitchen down.

I washed and dried the laundry that had accumulated in the barn studio, I made a phone call I needed to make, I found and ordered a replacement thing for Bean, and I talked to dd1 and ds on messenger, ddil on FaceTime, and dd2 on the phone. I also made dinner.

So I think it was a goid day in spite of not doing the maps.

Today - school and then it depends on wether or not the thing I was looking for yesterday is in my teacher closet.

Gotta make maps!

Good morning.

Talking to myself again.

I did not find the thing I was looking for at school yesterday. I did get my maps done in the morning and have a good teaching day. I will be out in the studio again for at least part of the day - what I am looking for are some little ghosts made from Birdy's handprints that need their second firing. I want to have them done when his family comes to visit in two and a half weeks. I can't remember where I put them!

I also need to spend some time in the room they will be staying in because it has become a staging and storage area.

The basement project is coming along well. I'm starting to have a more complete vision for it, although I am also running up against the reality of x+y amount items will never fit in x amount of space. I need to make some harder decisions.

One of the things I need to do is work on having an abundance mindset. I need to not save things because they "might be useful" or I "might want them." We are lucky to be in a position financially where I really don't have to think about small expenses any more. I realized the other day that while I still shop pretty frugally, it has been years since I denied myself the good jam at the grocery store because it was a dollar more or tried to stretch what we had solely so that I could put off shopping for one more week until a paycheck came in. If I give a thing away and want it in five years and it costs $20, I believe I can go buy a $20 thing.

Honestly, next year I'm going to be "rich", because when Dh did our retirement planning, the numbers worked out for us to keep living in basically the same style as now if he retired next month and I retired at the end of this school year. However, I'm pretty sure I will want to teach next year, and due to health insurance reasons, we've realized he can't retire until the end of 2026. Plus he recently had some job changes, and he likes his job better now, so he might work longer than that. We do have some ideas for major projects we might want to do with that money (remodeling a poorly laid out 45 year old bathroom that has the original cheap fixtures for example) but I am trying to get to a place where I can tell myself "you still have 5 bins of yarn. You are not going to knit anything before Christmas. You are probably not going to knit anything this school year. Save one bin for crafts and possible knitting projects and if you need yarn, go to one of the many amazing yarn stores in the city and buy exactly what you need for the project you are about to do!"

But having typed that, I want to knit. Where is the smacking yourself in the head emoji?

Ok, I really need to get my day moving. I'll check back later!

I found the ghosts.
I found the grapevine wreathes I want to use to do a craft with mil when she comes to visit in two weeks.
I cleaned up the room where Buddy's parents will stay, but I still need to clear a space in the attached room for his pack and play.

I took a grocery bag full of trash to toss out at the grocery store and I bought cow milk for Buddy and Bean. (And a few other things - I looked at my groceries and the only things I can't eat, compost, or recycle are the fruit stickers, the stuff they wrap the banana ends in and the banana tape. I have a large roll of banana tape rolled around a cork that I actually tape things with, but I don't need tape often.) it's ironic (and annoying) that only the whole fruit creates trash.

I moved a few more things into the play area of the basement.

I had to wash all the cleaning towels because there was a mouse, and when I put them away I found two more to donate to the city studio. I'll drop them off tomorrow when I take the ghost hands to be fired. I also found three pots I accepted that I am never going to rework. - they went in the trash bag.

hi guys!

SubC, good for you keeping accountable and posting so we can read when we get here! When I read you found a mouse, I thought you meant when you put the towels away you found 2 more mice! LOL... and then you were going to donate them?? ha... had to re-read, but it made me laugh! You are getting a lot done!

I am still coughing but I took suppressant and other cold meds and worked all week. I am feeling fine aside from the lingering cough so I am sure I am not contagious. I was not coughing at work except for an occasional bout, during which I secluded myself.

Today and tomorrow I finally have days off! I need them. I worked so hard this week and got all caught up. I had week 2 of my biggest program of the year and worked very hard prepping, helping, supporting the team etc that day. I didnt get home until 9:30 at night and then had to be up and back at work at 8:30am to support my boss' class and then have a meeting, and came home a bit and then had my first evening teaching a new class, which went well! Got home late and went in again in the morning for my other once a month big program and that went super well too. But I was wiped out and need to rest! Probably the busiest week I will have for another 3 or 4 weeks.

Last night I unloaded, loaded, and ran the dishwasher to prep for today. I also looked up and wrote down pickle recipes and placed a grocery delivery order for this morning.

Today I:
- roasted tomatoes to make soup or sauce with later
- washed off the stove top
- put in one load of laundry so far
- talked with ddil and the grandtots a bit
- went outside and trimmed my trees. The branches in front were hanging on my car and making a scraping sound when I pull into the driveway, and also hanging too low over the sidewalk for pedestrians. So I got that all trimmed up, branches in the green recycle bin and out to the road. I filled it up!

I am off to a good start.

post 2 today -

Today went by SO fast. Since my last post, I have:

- dried and sorted my laundry
- unloaded and reloaded again the dishwasher
- made tomato soup from the roasted fresh tomatoes
- made 2 kinds of refrigerator pickles
- took trash out

I feel like I did more, since I am so tired. Tomorrow I will do more! But it was a good restful day. Oh, I also ordered some tea which came already and will drink that soon. It is mullein, supposed to help with coughing.

Hi Lila!
It sounds like a good day.

Yesterday was exhausting here. It started with the news that a dear friend on vacation in Europe has been hospitalized in a small town where his wife cannot find anyone who speaks English and is trying to manage his care with google translate. She reached out not for help, but just to let us know. (Quote: "I know you can't do anything.") Helpless is not a feeling I like, and stubbornness is my superpower, so four hours later I was sending her the name and phone number of an international student who is a friend of a former student and a native of the country she is in so she can put him on speaker phone when she talks to doctors. Don't know if that will really help or not, but it made me feel less helpless. But our friend is still very ill.

Meanwhile I arrived at my classroom to discover that the building manager had propped a very large table up on edge at the front of my room in front of my whiteboard. It was not good timing. She told me it had to stay there. I told her it had to go because I could not teach in my room with it there. She said there was nowhere to put it. I threatened to roll it down the fire escape stairs. We stared at each other for a few minutes and then I got another teacher to help me stuff it in the freight elevator.

Full busy classes, a new student - love her! Met the woman who is taking over the Wednesday classes of the woman who is leaving in the room next to mine - like her. Rushed out of school to drop things off at the city studio before they closed, ran into a friend, made rash promises to him about studio time, back to school to switch over the kiln, stop at fancy grocery store to buy some "treats" we haven't had for a while (fancy cheese, fancy breads, spiced nuts, fresh pasta and cookies) made dinner of fancy roll and spiced nuts in the car on the way home because I was hungry,
And then collapsed on the couch and ate half a pint of ice cream while talking to my mom on the phone. Dad is having some back problems and mobility issues.

And just got an update that my friend is doing a bit better - he was able to get out of bed to go to the bathroom.

I also learned in our conversation that the new teacher lives near an art and handcrafts themed thrift store that I would like to support but which has very limited, hard to pull into on street parking in a heavy traffic area. And she shops there regularly. She is happy to take my donations to them!

This should help me with the basement project!

Meanwhile, dsil and Buddy are coming this afternoon so Dh can do DD's brakes (Dd is taking Bean to the pool in dsil's car) I am popping over to the monthly "arts" market (which is more market than arts) to exchange my broken Tupperware lids with the Tupperware lady and pet kittens (see, not arts) and many projects to work on.

Wishing everybody a good day!

SubC, I hope things keep getting better for your friend. That is a very difficult situation to be in! I am touched how you tried to help them. I always say persistence is my superpower, so I think you and I are quite similar.

How nice that the new teacher can help you! That is great!

I am feeling worse and wondering if, after catching something on my trip, I came home and caught whatever the grandtots have (some kind of cold/cough). Bummer. Hope not and hope with another rest day I start improving again. I am extra tired.

I ordered tamales to be delivered hoping the spiciness helps clear me up a bit. I am not a fan of spicy, but, it does seem to help with colds. I also:

- found some people to take the extra cukes off my hands so I don't have to keep dealing with them
- baked some sweet potato brownies to get the sweet potatoes used up

I am going to make baked potato soup later, quick edition, as I have a couple of baked potatoes that need to be used.

Aside from that, just watching tv and doing very little. I slept til 9:30 this morning and then the dog woke me up, and that is not like me, so I must have needed it.

Good morning!

Lila I hope the hot food cleared your head and you feel better.

Yesterday I spent some time in my pottery studio - still doing more clean up and prep than actual work, but I started two items.

I took my broken Tupperware lids to the Tupperware lady for replacement and ordered one additional one that I had recycled. (I have to pick those up at the market on the 18th.) I promised my long unused (Mr. Kitty liked to travel in a canvas tote and my bunny sits in an open box) pet carriers to the animal rescue people (they even want the ones with missing doors for shelters) - those will also go on the 18th.

I got feed, but I have to go back tomorrow and complain because one bag was taped but not sealed over a hole and is clearly not full.

And I spent four hours hanging with Buddy while DD's brakes got changed.

I bought a tiny piece of pottery from a friend who had an actual arts booth at the arts market - so I will have to count that in, but I am going to the renfest today and almost guaranteed to do more shopping, so I will update later.

No more news on our friend.

Sunday greetings. It has been a scattered week, so didn't get to posting. It's nice to catch up to your posts.

Feeling slow and blue like I haven't focused and gotten anything done, like i'm just getting through only some of the days' most important tasks. (dogs, work).

An acquaintance/friend was hospitalized and passed away this past week, as did my close friend's grandfather. Lots of missing people and reflection on this mortal coil.
The littlest dog injured her eye so we had anxiety and vet visits. The meds seem to be helping. Vet re-check tomorrow.
Took the computer to someone to repair it, so was without itfor a bit. It's back (phew) and now I'm trying to learn and get used to the changes in the computer.

I had an event cancelled today so I hope to get back on some kind of track. Yard work, laundry, and car stuff to start off. Well, actually, dog walks to start off. A great way to appreciate the beautiful weather.

Hope you all have a great day.

Good morning!

I officially had a successful day yesterday.

The boys and I had a good day
I switched the kiln over on the way home
And while I did not literally clean up after myself (there are some dishes from last night waiting to be washed today) I did effectively clean up after myself because there are still fewer dirty dishes.

I also spent a few minutes in several room to make them just a bit nicer - put something away that had been sitting out, dust a surface, that sort of thing. I returned two library books on the way home. And I did yoga.

Today is a bit more nebulous and I have a long todo list. I am calling it a "menu of options"

Dh asked me over breakfast how I'm going to know if my day is successful today. So, here are my "must dos"

Yoga
Prepare maps and lesson plans for school tomorrow
Order my ticket for the Renfest on Sunday (sometimes they sell out, and I have plans with Bean's clan - this requires me to find a coupon.)
Continue to clean up after myself (this really should be a habit)

Also do three additional tasks from my menu of options.

The basement project is far enough along that I was able to take both boys downstairs to play in it while it was raining yesterday. Bean and I discussed my plans and agreed that a compressed housekeeping area should be installed in a specific corner with the giant Lego blocks (anybody remember chubs baby wipes?) nearby so that things could be moved out into the open area and "walls" created. (The walls will only be one or two blocks high, I don't have THAT many baby wipe containers) this will involve laying down some more floor mats (I have enough washed I think) and carrying the play kitchen down from "Bean's" room (Buddy now takes his naps in there, and Bean's parents also sleep in it when they stay over)

Yesterday the forecast said rain all day today, so I thought that would be my focus, but now it just says a little rain in the morning, so maybe not.

I sat around drinking coffee with Dh for a while this morning, which was nice, but he is off to work now, so I am going to get started.

Hello everyone! I was talking a brief break from my errands and wanted to visit with you all! Lila, I felt that in my soul when you talked about being overweight and trying to find something to wear. I am so ashamed of my weight. It is discouraging to see how big I am. Sending you much love. Don't be upset with yourself. You are doing so well!

Back to reading so I can see how the presentation went!

SubC I love hearing about the festival/fair you went to and all the people you met!

Messi, I swear sometimes I set out to do something and if I cannot find the right "tools," in your case gloves, it derails me. Great work staying on task and for doing something gross!

Last post, I promise! Dear Lila! You are amazing! You were sick and stressed and sad and still able to make sure everyone had what they needed for the event! Please rest up as much as possible.

Good morning!

Hi Tatoulia!

I'm glad you stopped by! I'm sorry your weight is upsetting you. Just keep trying to make healthy choices about eating and moving. You are so good at evaluating the things you bring into your space now. I know you can find a way to do that with your body! Also, have realistic expectations. Some bodies are naturally bigger than other bodies. Pay attention to how yours feels, not how it looks.

Lila, I hope you keep feeling better. Cucumbers - maybe a Mediterranean style salad with couscous or bulgur ? Dice them up, add tomatoes, olives, feta, a dried fruit?

Hi Messi!

I miss you CM!

And yes, I wonder about road as well.

I didn't accomplish much yesterday. I'm not sure where the day went really - a lot of resting and reading I think. Just puttering around at small things.

But I did do the last of the painting (at least for this phase) in the basement so I am ready to do the rest of the wallpaper (and repaste the first section - the old "pre-pasted" paste did not hold) and then I can get someone to cut boards for me (I'm afraid of the saw) and start putting up shelves.

I did find mildew that needs to be cleaned 🙁 and signs of a mouse, so traps need to be set today. It could be a mouse I already got though. And I got rid of one item. I also emptied an old can of primer, but that came from Dh area in the barn shop.

Bean's family came out at dinner time and we spent the evening with them. Dsil accidentally packed the small tent instead of the big tent, so he and Bean slept outside and Dd and Buddy stayed in the house from the start. Buddy stays up later than we do, but I made the responsible choice and went to bed leaving him up with his mama. I only woke once in the night, so I got almost 8 hours of sleep! I can feel the difference!

I'm not sure how late they will stay today because dsil's family is coming to their house at 4 to celebrate Buddy's birthday. They usually do a lot of prep for dsil's family, and I don't know how ready they are.

Buddy liked the two toys I got him. Hopefully Dd will take them home with her. (Sometimes she tells the boys my gifts are for here - her house is small.)

Dh is playing golf today. I'll come back and let you know if I get anything done.

good afternoon.

It is so nice out and raining here and I am enjoying the calm weather and fresh air. have to work tonight, but there is some chance I may just say I cannot... but, I kind of have to at least have this one meeting, even though I still feel so tired. I did sleep in today until 9:30, unheard of, so I must have needed it. My lungs feel clear now. Slight occasional coughing and congestion. I have a few hours before the meeting, so I will finish making the homemade tomato soup I started yesterday. I was given about 6 tomatoes and some cherry tomatoes so I skinned them and put them in a pot with a slice of onion and some garlic and simmered it down. Today I will blend it and eat it, maybe with a grilled cheese on sourdough.

Then maybe I will feel good enough to do this necessary meeting.

Thank you for the kind words Tatoulia, so nice to hear from you! SubC, good ideas for the cukes. Now can you just come over and make the salad for me? lol.

Boy I hope I feel better soon.

O my goodness. I had a just written a message here and was just getting to the end of it when there was a computer hiccup and I lost it, lol.

Recap, lol:

You all have been doing a lot, including baking and cooking. Sounds great, sampling would be fun!

Lila - you just keep going, doing for others. I hope you get to relax and keep healing. Chill with your pup?

SubC - you have so much going on with school, and family and house and supplies and projects! I understand about being tired after a school day. School requires so much energy (including home-time planning). Congrats on the progress with the basement. It encourages me. I need that.

I've been feeling like a dud this week. I would plan to work on somethng after work, but just crash when I got home. I mostly just manage to walk and feed the dogs, bless them! and not too much else. I did get down to my basement to assess the next step, which included living through (lol) an uncomfortable call with a family member about it. Good progress.

Last night after muddling around, i made of short list of things I needed to do, didn't want to do, and wanted to do. I started with the first thing on the didn't want to do list. This helped stop the muddling and was good to get done.

I am now going to drop off the composting and walk a dog. It is beautiful out. Enjoy the evenng!

Good morning! Happy equinox!

Lila, how are you feeling? I'm sorry I can't come make the salad.

Messi, I don't know what you do for your job, but I think crashing after work is perfectly normal behavior. If I do school plus one thing I call it a good day.

I'm so proud of you for tackling your "don't want to do" list! And for dealing with an uncomfortable phone call! That had to be really hard.

Today is a Bean and Buddy day. I'm going to be pretty tired. I was up at 4, so I only got about six hours of sleep last night - woke up briefly at midnight, and I couldn't get to sleep at bedtime.

It's supposed to start raining around ten, so we will be inside today. My goals are to have a good day with the boys, switch the kiln at school over on the way home, and clean up after myself.

I need to work on paying attention to my accomplishments and the good things that I do, because I've been feeling pretty down on myself this week. A lot of emotions coming to the surface and I'm not even sure why. My boss sent me a nice email last week telling me she appreciates everything I do for my students and the school. Sometimes I feel like I need to work because my job is the only part of my life where I actually feel successful.

SubC - sounds like a good weekend! Enjoy today.
Just a quick note as I go off to walk the dogs. I have an eye doctor appt. this morning. Hope to get a few things done as this is my day off. Trying for a trip to the compost, (meaning clean out the refrig), yard work, laundry, grocery...
Thinking of you, Lila.
Have a great day everyone!

Hi Messi,

I'm guessing the "enjoy today" was for yesterday with the boys. And I did.

Today was driving and hours in a waiting room, then picking up medicine and soft foods to feed Dh.

Other than that, I have done morning milking and chores and loaded and run the dishwasher. I slept really badly last night, so I'm pretty tired.

Good evening.

My accomplishments for the day are dropping some things at the thrift store, getting my mammogram, washing two rugs and nine mat squares, and making incremental progress on cleaning up the basement.

I also put away some clean laundry and kept up with dishes, milk, and eggs, but not packaging.

I went in the thrift store to look for a lampshade - which I did not find, but i did get very overwhelmed with all the stuff and encouraged to not shop and to keep paring down.

I am back. I have not totally caught up on posts yet, but some. I just thought I would update for now.

Everything went fine, I had something nice to wear that I felt good in and my speaking engagement went well with a lot of very nice positive feedback. The dog sitter came and was a good fit, she stayed in my house while I was gone and did a good job! I sat in the hospital for days and it was hard but I am glad I went. I said my goodbyes. I think she will linger for awhile but her mind is mostly gone.

Then I got sick on the last day of the trip, came home and had my biggest event of the year starting so I had to mask up and go in and do several hours of prep. I got my team all ready and documents ready so they could do it without me. I hated missing it but no one wants a leader at a big event who is coughing her guts out and looking ill, so I went home just as people started to arrive. I heard it went well but I was missed, so now I am doing follow-up with the team and prepping for the next thing, this coming week. I am still pretty sick, but I think I can work from home today. I was so sick yesterday I did nothing.

So my house is still decent from how I cleaned it before I left, but there are boxes in my room that I stashed and need to go through. I don't think I feel well enough to do much house work today.

I am just going to try and do emails and computer work for a couple hours, enjoy my dog, and rest. I did load the dishwasher so at least there's that.

Welcome back, Lila. I'm glad you were able to spend time wth your aunt. I'm sorry you're sick and hope you rest and recover soon. You have been going gangbusters really.

I have been kind of stuck and tired, so the first goal is to go to bed sooner; and so... morelater.

Good morning!

Lila, I'm glad you got time with your aunt, even though it was hard. And that your presentation went well.

Being under stress makes your body more vulnerable to germs, and with traveling and the hospital it's not surprising you got sick. I hope you get rest and recover quickly.

Messi, I hope you got a good night's sleep too. I've been struggling to sleep, so I'm very aware how important it is. Last night I managed to sleep for two hours and then almost five, which is really good for me lately.

I pushed myself to have a pretty productive day yesterday - I took care of a couple of small tasks in the barn, washed and dried two loads of laundry, cut some cattails to dry for fall decorating, picked a few things that are still holding on in the garden, baked two kinds of cake, popovers, and bread, and made up our bed and the bed inBean's room with clean sheets (the kids are coming out tomorrow to celebrate buddy's birthday).

Then I got corn at the farmers market, returned my overdue library books, checked out a few more, and picked up feed. I ran the dishwasher once but did not completely clean up the kitchen.

And of course, with all that, I still had things left on my list and have trouble feeling like I'm getting anywhere.

This morning I have my lesson plans ready, but I need to wedge some clay before I leave for school. Teaching has been wiping me out every day, so that is all I am expecting of myself today. Maybe stopping at the grocery store on the way home - we're out of peanut butter for Bean.

hi Messi and SubC. Messi, I hate the stuck tired feeling. I am there now myself. Do you find anything that pushes you out of stuck-ness?

Subc, it does sound like you are being quite productive. You have a lot of your plate.

Hi Tatoulia, wherever you are. I wonder how Road is, and her son.

I am still sick but improving. I worked from home some yesterday and got little else done. Today is my actual day off, so, supposed to be doing laundry, taking trash out, etc, but am so tired.

I decided I would have one goal today: to clip my dog's nails. I have not cut them since I got her earlier this summer, and I know I should have. It is only harder when they get longer. I dread it, so have kept putting it off. I finally decided this is the day. So I went to get the clippers and the stopbleed powder (just in case) and they were not where I have kept them for years, because I cleaned. THIS is one of those reasons I hate cleaning and decluttering. I move things and can't find them. I looked "everywhere" and still nothing. I did not give up and looked "everywhere" again and found them under a pile in my room. It took about 20 minutes. I was frustrated so I just brought them out to the living room and am waiting until I feel happier to actually cut her nails. I can't start with a frustrated energy - dogs can sense that. I did handle her paws and tell her she is a good girl, so as to start a good/not anxious experience. Ugh, I really don't know how this is going to go, it could be super hard and frustrating or could be okay. I will try in a half hour or so.

Beyond that, I would like to get some of my spaces picked up a bit but am super unmotivated, still coughing and tired. We'll see. But if I clip her nails I will count today a success.

Good morning.

Lila, did you get the nails clipped?

My ddil has a rescue dog who is so traumatized that they cut her nails one at a time. Sometimes two. Ddil shows a treat, asks "paw" and clips one nail, then gives the dog the treat. The dog walks away. If it went really well, sometimes ddil will hold up another treat and ask "paw" to see if the dog will come back. That's it for that day.

Yesterday I taught, picked up glaze and 400 lbs of clay for school and delivered it back to my classroom, stopped at the grocery store, cooked dinner with Dh, and ran a load of laundry.

That was really good for a school day. I slept a little better last night - almost 7.5 hours and I only woke up once and went right back to sleep!

I'm not sure what I'm going to do today besides try to get a little rest. Bean's family is coming over to camp again some time today. Maybe we will go swimming in the pond. I also have some things to get done for school next week, want to make more progress on the basement, and also want to prioritize getting some clay work done in the studio. Besides reducing the chaos in the house/studio/barn.

SubC, yes, I did some nail trimming, but not all. The scenario your ddil had is what I was expecting, but she did a little better. I had treats and she let me take just the tips off about 8 nails on front paws. Ended happy and tail wagging but I started to see avoidance which is why I stopped. My goal today is to do it again. I did not want to make big cuts in case it got too close and hurt, so I barely tipped them. I need to do back paws and the front ones I missed. And, maybe, trim a bit more off fronts.

I am so sick of being sick!! I am getting better, but still coughing and stuffy. Super annoying.

A friend dropped off tomatoes and cucumbers today so I am making a very small pot of tomato soup. I am tired of pickles so I will eat some cukes fresh and probably juice some. Any other ideas?

I am still too tired to clean. But I did sort meds yesterday and got rid of about 20 bottles, some empty, some expired. I need someone to give me an energy shot. Coffee is not working.

Good morning!

The festival was good. The work was pretty high end, so I managed not to bring home anything except a little paper collage kit packet attached to a flyer about the book arts society - which I'm actually interested in. Honestly, I'm interested in most of it - but particularly the paper, cloth, yarn, thread, wood, basketry skills. And clay of course. Glass and metal intimidate me. The basketry people meet too far from my home. Everybody is somewhat far, but they are somewhere I know I just won't go - a very long drive near nothing else.

The Book arts people meet far away, but right off a highway I drive for work - a few exits further south but only one block from the exit, so I could actually get there slightly faster than I get to work.

I saw three potters I know, the parent of a student I like, and the former student who told me about the event. It was good catching up with her.

The shop took most of the clothes and gave me a little bit of money. I feel good about it. There were a lot of young people shopping and their prices were reasonable, so I feel like the clothes will be used and enjoyed by someone.

I left the festival feeling inspired, but by the time I got home I was worn out from the driving in unfamiliar places. (The shop was actually a detour into the city and I had to navigate one way streets and on street parking) I took two wrong turns, but they were both on the same road due to my inability to figure out a six way intersection between a four lane road and two two lane roads and both times I turned around first chance at the same warehouse entrance and went right back and got on the correct road. ( i think I did it on the way home because it looked familiar from the way there - duh!)

I have the boys today instead of tomorrow because Dd is out of town and it will give dsil a break, and Dh has oral surgery tomorrow so I'll be transporting and taking care of him. Hopefully I will get some basement, yard, or creative work done as well.