Did you accomplish anything today?

[jbeany]

Beany - Have you thought going back to work as a temp?  I did that after having the kids.  Three of the four temp positions I worked at asked me to stay on as a fulltime worker.  Two of them I wouldn't have touched with a barge pole but the third one was a lovely place to work.  It would give you time to thoroughly check them out, too.

I'm getting signed up for Ticket to Work, so I can get a part-time position if none of the full time things pans out.  I can't possibly pay for transplant meds without insurance, so that's been a sticking point with temp jobs without benefits.

[Poppylicious]

Survived another interview.  I think it went well, not that you can ever really tell.  (It's easy to tell if it went bad, not so easy to tell if it went great!) 

When I had the interview for the position I have now I thought I'd done SO badly that when they rang me the next day and offered me the job I blurted out (without thinking), 'But I came across really badly!' and the lady (who is really senior in a place of 700-ish employees) laughed and insisted that I came across brilliantly.  Of course, I was dosed up on painkillers (two weeks post-donation) which may have skewed my judgement somewhat.

I've achieved nothing today.  Oh, I made a student laugh and helped a colleague or four, made a fabulous chicken stew with the slow cooker (coming home to those amazing aromas and warmth is heavenly) and I played at being a 'good sport' when friends took the proverbial out of my organisation skills (tidy desk, tidy mind) but it was still a bit of a flat day really.

 

[jbeany]

Survived another interview.  I think it went well, not that you can ever really tell.  (It's easy to tell if it went bad, not so easy to tell if it went great!) 

When I had the interview for the position I have now I thought I'd done SO badly that when they rang me the next day and offered me the job I blurted out (without thinking), 'But I came across really badly!' and the lady (who is really senior in a place of 700-ish employees) laughed and insisted that I came across brilliantly. 

Sounds good to me - I would love one of those calls right now!

Let's see - got up, walked to the bus stop, rode to campus, and then walked the 15 minutes from there to the courthourse to observe the law students do motion practice in front of a real judge who likes to help out the clinic students practice at least once a term.   After, I walked the next block to the bank, cashed a check, and walked 25 minutes back past the campus to the central bus station to buy another bus pass, since my 31 day pass expires tomorrow.  Their credit card system was down, so all that for no pass.  Hopped on the bus there, and headed for home.  Got off at the grocery store half a mile from home, bought a pass from them, and grabbed a few groceries.  The bus runs every half hour, but it only took me 15 minutes to get my stuff.  So I walked home, and took a curving, different route than usual that doubled the distance.
 
I should have worn the boots without heels today.  My calves are not happy, but I'm feeling virtuous, so that okay.

I wasn't in the mood to do anything at all by the time I got home at 3:30, but didn't want to waste the rest of the afternoon, so I put down my book and got up out of my comfy chair after I ate lunch and got started.
I wrote my to-do list for the rest of the week.
Added to my shopping list.
Changed out two dead light bulbs I keep forgetting about.
Did the dishes.
Wrapped all the books I need to mail for my swap site after printing the labels with postage.

(Most of this I did while on the phone with a good friend, so the time flew by.)

I also cut some leftover trim from my bathroom on my chop box.  I have one picture in the collage on my office wall that needs a bigger frame to balance the group.  I don't have one that matches anywhere else that I could trade out, and I don't want to spend any more money on one if I can help it.  I've glued the angled pieces together.  When it's dry tomorrow, I will paint it and glue my existing narrow frame on the center of it, and hang it up again. 

Renew, reuse, recycle, right?

Or as my Gram put it - Make do or do without!

[Riki]

I walked up to Tim Horton's to use the free coffee and donut coupon that I won at the Bowl for Research a couple of weeks ago.  It was cold, so I wore my socks and shoes instead of my sandals.  I think I have a blister, but I had free coffee, so it was worth it.

[Ricksters]

I haven't done much at all today, I hate to say!  I boiled eggs for deviled eggs (gotta get that protein in!) and walked for 1-1/2 miles.  Tried to download music to my new cell phone, got 2 songs downloaded and lord knows where the rest went!  Still havr to make ny Thanksgiving shopping list....will get that done by Tuesday!

Ricki

[Riki]

In a word, no.  I limped home from the bus stop after dialysis.  My feet were just burning.  I guess there's just no getting used to these shoes this year, which is a shame, cuz they're not that old

[jbeany]

Lots of random little things, but none of the big projects I wanted to finish!

Got the extra support bracket I bought up on the curtain rod in the office.  It doesn't sag in the middle anymore when the curtains are closed - always a good thing. 

Got my will and financial and medical power of attorney paperwork updated, signed, and ready to go.  Feels good to have that mess taken care of, so if anything happens to me, my sister doesn't have to deal with a lot of nonsense.

Rearranged my collage of pics to make use of my new frame backing.  I didn't end up gluing the little frame to the new piece I made out of left over trim - I just nailed one on top of the other.  It looks really good, and didn't cost a thing.  Free is my favorite price!

Made the cats happy by changing all the cat pans.  I'm a day late on my usual schedule - you would think I'd left it for weeks, given how much they flounced around in the fresh litter, scattering it hither and yon as they dug at it.

Started scrubbing the second story stairs and banister to prep for painting tomorrow.  Didn't get very far because my sister arrived in the middle of my hammering away at stray nails on the top step.  Eventually, I figured out that the knocking she was doing on the door was not an echo and went and let her in.   

Took the gift card my sister gave me for my birthday and got more paint, so I don't have to mix so much to cover the rec room walls.  She helped me work out how the furniture will look best, and pick colors before I went to get paint.  She also brought me a thrift store find - an overhead projector that I can use to project designs on the walls.  I'm going to cover the laundry room area with graphic soap bubbles.    My rec room is going to have a deep brown on the walls in one corner section, and I'm going to do a random design of overlapping circles in multiple colors.  I did everything upstairs nicely, but I'm going to go a bit crazy with the downstairs!

Off to bed now so I can get up early and get lots done tomorrow.

[Riki]

I went to Nova Scotia today to visit with a cousin who is visiting from Edmonton, Alberta.  I'm actually on the ferry on the way home right now, and they're coming into the dock, so I best shut down and get to the car.. *G*

[jbeany]

Two days in a row of non-stop home improvement projects.  Ow.  I may or may not be able to stand upright tomorrow, since a substantial portion of my time was spent hunched over my stairs, prepping and painting them.

[kitkatz]

SO: Christmas shopping at the mall.
       Anniversary gift bought by hubby at my urging. See's Dark Chocolate.
       Dinner out at Sundowners
       Home to watch the last hour of WWE wrestling Survivor Series
       Cleaned off my desk. The mail pile was getting seriously high.
       Finished a book. 
       Watching Six Million Dollar Man Season 2.

[Riki]

I did laundry.. just mine, though.. Mom can do her own.. *LOL*   I was going to make cookies too, but I'm not feeling the best, so I figured I'd leave them to another day

[cariad]

I found my front door key! Also have managed a bit of cleaning and sorting, nothing too impressive. This morning I spoke with Dyl's teacher about a lunch incident yesterday. My baby was in tears. This dinner lady (as they call them) told Dyl he had to eat with a knife and fork. He was eating chips! Then he felt as if she was mocking him because he said he wasn't hungry and she said something obnoxious like "It's not that he's not hungry, he just doesn't want to do as he's told." Yes, congratulations, you put my child off eating chips with your control freakishness. You also forced him to eat more fried potato (idiocy) in order to get his pudding and you rudely spoke about him in the third person right in front of him. Once again, Aidan had to go fix it. Stop forcing my 10-year-old to be the responsible mediator!

Anyway, Dyl did speak to his teachers about it and they tried to help him but he was so reluctant to tell them what happened because he struggles to handle negative emotion. Gwyn and I both went in to reinforce that this is not to happen again and his teacher was lovely about it and said she will pass these instructions along to the lunch supervisor.

Going to volunteer in an hour.

[Poppylicious]

This dinner lady (as they call them) ...

I remember my dinner lady from primary school with absolute fondness ... she was a lovely little thing; I saw her last weekend but didn't get to speak with her.  And she's definitely not as old as she should be (she was ancient when I was at primary school 27 years ago!!) This one sounds a right madam though; I'm pleased he has a lovely teacher who can handle the situation. 

I changed my bedsheets, am about to hang them on the line and wash some more stuff, and managed to nearly book tickets to see Muse in London next May, until I realised Blokey had also got to the 'buy' stage and cancelled my order. Still, we could have sold the extra tickets and made LOTS of money ... darn! I'll be spending the rest of the day watching some tellybox shows I've Sky+'d and just relaxing, because I can.

[jbeany]

Repeat post above about  days on end of home improvement.  Ow.  I will have this place in order before my party!

[cassandra]

I changed, and turned 3 mattresses, finished the last chaircushion, assembled a medium drawerchest, feel mighty proud, and knackered.

[kitkatz]

I shopped for Christmas treats for classroom.  Bought ornaments and candy canes and wrapping paper.
I have 31 books to be wrapped by my TA.

[jbeany]

Arranged for purchase and delivery of half of my Xmas shopping list.  I.e. made a phone call to a friend who is going to pick up gift passes to the little local movie theater where she lives and bring them to me when she comes to visit so I can wrap them with "movie" boxes of candy and ship them out to my friends up north.  I tried to get them online, but the theater organization is so low tech, they barely have a website, let alone ordering options for people who want to use credit cards!

Organized the timing of my friend's visit and planned what we were going to do while she was here.   Planned a day for a housewarming party for my up-north and other friends, since I can't fit them and the law clinic crowd in my house at the same time.  Decided on weekend of St. Patty's day.  If I do a Saturday afternoon-into-evening open house party, they can drive down and back in one day if they want.  Or fight for space on my floor - their choice!

Job hunted on-line.  Found two more to apply for this week, and am in the middle of writing a cover letter for a third I'd already found.

Fiddled a little bit more with decorating, but decided I needed a day to rest from home improvement.  Did laundry and read the Sunday paper instead.  Clipped and filed all the coupons, wrote up a list of what needs to be done next in the rec room, and inventoried the kitchen cupboards to make a shopping list, with Xmas baking in mind.

Not bad considering I didn't get dressed or make the bed today!

[cariad]

I maintained some semblance of sanity even though my kids both have a 'viral cough' and spent the morning at home. I took them to the GP late morning on a walk-in basis. Laundry, laundry, laundry, then lunch with 6 friends to celebrate two birthdays. Picked up Dyl from school (Aidan was the worse off of the two so he stayed home all day, Gwyn worked from home so I could go to lunch). My Aussie friend has me re-examining my visa plans. I am going to try to do this without leaving the country - she said it's the law that my husband has the right the live with his family. I so do not want to go back to America. More general cleaning and studying for the Life in the UK test that I have to take if I am going to go the route that my Aussie friend went. I have no idea why they think it's important that I know the exact percentage of people under the age of 19 living in the UK, but then, when I taught citizenship to refugees in the US, I never knew why I had to make them memorize who said "Give me liberty or give me death." 

[jbeany]

It's about hoops - if they are willing to jump through hoops, then they are sincere about wanting it.  Most Americans can't pass the test it takes to become a citizen!

[cariad]

It's about hoops - if they are willing to jump through hoops, then they are sincere about wanting it.

I think you've nailed it there, jbeany. I think of these citizenship tests as high-stakes Trivial Pursuit. They're all a bit silly in my opinion. I do believe Gwyn is one of those Americans who couldn't pass the citizenship test, and the only reason he's an American is because he's already passed it, and only four years ago.

Accomplishment of sorts. I was up almost the entire night last night, worrying about whether I could get Dyl into this school I want him to go to. A friend told me she wants her boy to go there, and this is all so touchy and horrible because our kids will be competing for spaces. I hate being pitted against other families, but I will do what I have to do for Dyl. I went for coffee with my Aussie friend this morning and she and I had a long, enormously calming conversation about this. The best part is, I was able to help her by telling her that I knew there was a space for her child in this amazing and free school because he is in a different year to my boy. Chances are she could save her family thousands of pounds a year because they were set to go private.

OK, but unrelated to this - Gwyn and I have been battling since our arrival to get Aidan on a football team. I left messages, sent emails, harangued anyone with a sports connection in town and got next to nowhere. So Gwyn and I stepped it up - anytime I would hear about or see a practice taking place, we would crash it. Two weeks ago, Aidan trained with a U12 team because we turned up unannounced and they gave him a shot (he's actually U11). The kids were so much bigger than him, but he did manage to show them his talents to a certain extent. Finally some kind soul took the time to explain to us that according to football regs, they can only have 15 players on any given squad and every team in town was at capacity, but Aidan was welcome to train with them and perhaps a spot would open up eventually. He trained tonight - he has this awful cough and Tuesdays are our most insanely busy nights, but he and Gwyn went anyway. After practice, the coach pulled him aside and said he had talked to the U12 coach and after seeing what Aidan could do, the U11 coach offered him a spot on the team. I guess they are allowed to go over capacity by one and when the coach saw Aidan play, he decided it was time to do that. Yay! Finally! Football's Great Intellect is back in the game!

[jbeany]

Two job apps out tonight - one emailed already, one printed to be dropped off in person tomorrow.  Two in one night, after a full day at the pro-bono clinic knee deep in paper work.  I feel virtuous now.   

Last night, I made and sent out party invites last night to all the staff and students from the clinic.  (Now I really have to finish the remodeling/decorating!)  Much giggling and laughing as they greeted me this morning.  I used the official court form for a Motion, along with a notice of hearing date and location.  I attached the map, stamped as Exhibit 1.  The motion title was "Motion to Celebrate the End of Term" in front of Honorable Judge Stress Relief.  I modified the "If you need special accommodations for disability, etc." line to read that if Mexican food, Margaritas, and Mexican Beer didn't accommodate them, to BYOB. 
Another joke that may only be funny to lawyers.... 

[jbeany]

And another app out tonight. Two rejection emails in, but thankfully neither for the job I had the interview with.  Not sure if that's good or bad, though.  Wondering is worse than the rejections.

[Poppylicious]

It's about hoops - if they are willing to jump through hoops, then they are sincere about wanting it.  Most Americans can't pass the test it takes to become a citizen!

I have no idea why they think it's important that I know the exact percentage of people under the age of 19 living in the UK, but then, when I taught citizenship to refugees in the US, I never knew why I had to make them memorize who said "Give me liberty or give me death." 

I took the UK test once and failed appallingly; less then 50% if I recall.  I should not have the right to a British passport ... tsk!!

I've been to the PO and spent oodles of money on sending cheap little goodies abroad. I also went to the library and the chemist, watched The Almighty Johnson's and put some washing on the line.  Now I need to retrieve the washing before it gets dark outside.  I can't see my keyboard.  I think a coffee is in order before I get to grips with finishing my mental health presentation for a micro-lesson I need to do to pass this damn course at work.

[Rerun]

I bought new mini lights to go on my tree outside.  I plugged them in before I ever took them out of the box and they all worked just fine.  Then I got them on and plugged them in and only half were working.  It was too dark so I had to wait until today.  I had my hands over my head for a half hour trying to push them all in.  Then I tired to change the base bulb and they all came on.  I was so happy.    

       

[kitkatz]

I bought toys on Amazon for the niece and nephew this morning.  I love that Amazon will ship to my sister's address.