Did you accomplish anything today?

[chook]

Awww, gorgeous mother and babies jb!  And *huggles* for Aleta!

I watched the final four episodes of Buffy this afternoon.  Seven seasons in six months ... not bad going for someone who used to shy away from anything vampire related and couldn't understand the attraction of very beautiful, young, ageless, intensely brooding (and a little bit evil) dead men ...

 

Yes.....Buffy! That's where I developed a liking for that type of bloke too. Angel, what a name. Love him (David B) in Bones as well.
And thanks, lmunchkin. I think I've got the quote thing working now.

[galvo]

Happy Birthday, CebuShan!

[cariad]

I booked tickets for our next trip to California in mid-March. we will probably take another, shorter trip in April and then perhaps Gwyn can come to us for May.

Kids have eaten and I took another Ibuprofen because I was starting to run another temperature. The boys' swim lesson has been canceled tomorrow due to a swim meet at the pool, so we have an entire day to just rest and reassemble the house. The boys really want to go do something, but it is so bitter cold I just don't know. I thought our furnace had gone on the blink because it took the entire day for the ground floor to get from its overnight temp of 55 to it's daytime temp of 68. Hopefully Gwyn can sort it out when he's in town next.

[Poppylicious]

I haven't accomplished anything in the last few days (except the art of gracefully falling on my bum on a patch of ice disguised as a light dusting of snow) but galvo managed to finally beat me at Scrabble after months of trying ... (bless him, but not for the 'forces of darkness' comment ...)

 

[galvo]

Please see above!

hehehehehehehe!!!

[MaryD]

I managed to take my latest creation into the wool shop I knit for.

It was a gorgeous dress, made for a sweet young thing, lacy flounces around the hem, almost a full circle skirt, cable top, very fitted, 4 ply, light as a feather.  I have always had a dislike of knitted dresses, but I'm now a convert.

The pattern was badly translated from German and the whole thing took four weeks to complete.  I finished it on Saturday, and spent Sunday and Monday doing anything to avoid pressing it.  My floors have been scrubbed, you could eat off any surface in the house, the entire garden has been mulched, and my elderly neighbours have been visited so many times they think I have been kicked out of home. Finally plucked up the courage to press it late on Monday, and took it in to the shop.  They put it on a dress form straight away and it looks gorgeous!  Elegant!  Fashionable!  Yum!

Now, all I have to do it rewrite the pattern so that the average English-speaking knitter can make their own

[jbeany]

I got a sore throat, ran a fever, took some Tylenol, called in sick to the clinic where I volunteer, and went back to bed.  Enough for one day!

[Katonsdad]

I ordered my new Lic p  Organ dlares today. State of Virginia
Support Irgan donatio   DON8IT

[cassandra]

I'm trying to get the backroom empty so that the kitchen can be fitted (the sink literally sank throught the worksurface) But that means I have to sort the admin that has been piling up (especially in the years I was admitted, or ill when I just stuck everything in a box (hubby does not do admin). So there is a lot, but I did a lot. Emptied 3 crates today

[cariad]

I finally managed to get the baby toys that have been sitting in the front room for two months cleaned and put in the back of the car for donation. I was cleaning one of the baby toys with a bleach cloth and saw a dead arachnid on it and automatically threw the cube away from me. It landed on the tile in front of the fire. I then collected the kids from school, explained what I wanted to do, and told them I would pay them 10$ each for them to do it. I helped them set up a donate box and a trash bag and they took care of the dead bug (Liot even said that he would clean up the next dead bug we find because Aidan got to clean up the first one.) It took them about an hour, but their dad called in the middle of that.

Toward the end, Aidan picked up a book and showed it to me. I said "that's a book my mom would read to me in the hospital" and I started tearing up. Aidan took one last glance at the book and threw it in the trash, then came directly to me and gave me a hug. The maturity and compassion in that boy, it completely undid me. Elliot asked what was wrong and I said "I'm fine, I'm fine. I just had a bad memory." Then I thought that the book should be recycled, so Aidan walked it out to the bin. My mother found this book about a year ago and even though I am quite sure I told her I did not want it, she sent it anyway. I then did not know what to do with it. I am so glad Aidan took the initiative. My mother always joked that it was such a long and boring book, about a boy and a moose, and I think they got lost or something. She would recall how she would try to speed things up by skipping pages, but I would correct her. She didn't understand. I specifically chose that book because I knew it was long and so it delayed her leaving me there alone.

Front room still needs a bit of sorting, but is mostly back to normal.

[Desert Dancer]

It took almost a week but now I think I can die happy. The house is ship-shape and Bristol fashion. Floors are sparkling. Light bulbs and baseboards all dusted. The tops of all the molding - all eight linear miles of it - vacuumed along with all the ceiling fans. All the wood polished and windows shining. All the sinks and faucets looking like they just came from the store. Refrigerator cleaned out, yard weeded and trees trimmed. Somehow managed to create double the floorspace in the spare room despite accumulating twice as much 'stuff' back there, including a new Eastlake dresser. And I'm finally putting the border on a queen-sized afghan I began crocheting... oh... five or six years ago.

Now if I'm burglarized I won't be embarrassed and if everyone comes to the house for my funeral I won't have to be mortified from beyond. It's a great feeling.

[cassandra]

I am suitably impressed DD, about to start the continuation of just the backroom, and feel tired already. Than again, I drove my hubby to work, cos his car didn't start at 6.00 this morning, and then to the Dr for something weird growing on my hand. Now just finished my espresso

[Poppylicious]

She didn't understand. I specifically chose that book because I knew it was long and so it delayed her leaving me there alone.

Awww, cariad.  This made me all leaky.  I can't even begin to imagine what it must have been like for the Little You. 

*huggles*

I managed to find another six books for my Enid Blyton Dean & Sons Ltd. collection.  The chap in the charity shop went out of his way to find them in the backroom after overhearing me talking about them.  Then he only charged me a tenner for the six of them, even though I know for a fact that they're usually sold for at least three poundage each.  I also bought oodles of bright spring bloomage for the tubs/hanging baskets in my front garden and treated my Mumsy to the most amazingly gorgeous Pandora ring for a Very Big-ish Birthday which she has coming up next week. 

My bank balance* does not love me today, but nevertheless, I am happy.

(*please note that any reference to 'bank balance' usually means i put it on the credit card and later informed Blokey so that he could pay it off.)

 

[jbeany]

My professional certification exam is tomorrow morning.  I've cranked through reviewing 9 out of 10 chapters so far.  One more to go  in the next 2 hours before I crawl off to bed to get a good night's sleep.  It's the grammar and communications chapter.  Uggh.  I'm pretty decent with spelling and punctuation, so I don't expect this one to be the worst part of the exam, but I could be wrong.  It's full of randomly weird questions like "What is the proper salutation when writing to a Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court?"

Dear High Muckety Muck,
 
is apparently NOT the right answer, so I guess I should study some more.

I also found a house I might want to make an offer on in the next few weeks.  It's in my price range, in the neighborhood I wanted, and looks to be move-in ready except for some paint colors.  It's the cozy little bungalow I've been looking for - one I can pay for without a mortgage.  (You know it's small when the street number and the square footage are both three digits long, and the house number is the bigger of the two, by almost 100.) This is sooner than I planned to make an offer, but it's a short sale, and those take time, so I need to make an offer now if I want it any time close to when my lease ends.  Is it strange to feel guilty about being able to buy a house from someone who clearly took good care of it and probably doesn't want to move out?

I'm also counting down.  19 days until my kitten is old enough to be picked up!

[jbeany]

18 days to go to on the kitten count down.   

Got through my cert exam this morning.  Heck, I may even have passed.  I won't know for 45 days or so.

Drove by three houses for sale in my area.  Eliminated two from my "possible" list just from a quick drive by.  If I can spot the rotting the roof and porch from the road, the house is not an option.  The other "eww" was located right at the spot near the truck route where semis would have to start putting on air brakes for the upcoming stop light.  Never mind.

The third one is adorable from the outside though; Victorian trim, and a lovely, tree-filled garden.  Must schedule a tour soon.

[okarol]

18 days to go to on the kitten count down.   

I love kittens!!
Good luck with the house hunting!

[okarol]

I have been working 10 hours a day every day this week. I am really tired. There are 45 days left until this fundraising project opens so it's still going to keep me busy. My goal today is to get some rest!

[natnnnat]

I managed to take my latest creation into the wool shop I knit for.
It was a gorgeous dress, made for a sweet young thing, lacy flounces around the hem, almost a full circle skirt, cable top, very fitted, 4 ply, light as a feather.  I have always had a dislike of knitted dresses, but I'm now a convert. [...] Elegant!  Fashionable!  Yum!

Hey hey hey! That sounds good!  And IMPRESSIVE!!! Any chance of a photo?
 

[natnnnat]

19 days until my kitten is old enough to be picked up!

Oh god, a kitten.  I've been seeing a lot of really cute kittens about the place lately, and going all ga-ga.  Can't see why all of a sudden I'm interested in kittens again.  (BUT THEY'RE SO CUTE AND LOOK AT THE LITTLE CARROT TAIL!!!)  I have to keep reminding myself that the two cats I have now are a lot of work now that his nibs has gone diabetic.  He's off insulin, but at the price of being fed 6 times a day to keep the system ticking over.  That's a lot of feeds.

[jbeany]

Only 6 times a day?  Bet that didn't take him long to get used to!   

[natnnnat]

Only 6 times a day?  Bet that didn't take him long to get used to!   

LOL!  I know!  I think he thinks he's in cat-heaven!!!! 

[cariad]

I am trying to make progress on this house after about a month with only minimal cleaning. Have done piles of laundry, dishes, cleaned the guest bath and mopped the wood floors downstairs. So much more to do, though.

Yesterday I hit some sort of wall with my energy. Shoveled wet, heavy snow Friday night because Aidan had an early morning basketball game and did not want to deal with it when we were in a time crunch. So we went to the basketball game against The Big Z - the team they only narrowly defeated in overtime last time they played them, but Aidan's team pulled it off twice: they beat them 28-24 this time around. These are the play-off games, so it would have been such a drag if they had lost because they went in to the game undefeated, but you don't get a trophy for that, only for winning all the playoff games. They play the #4 ranked team next week in the final game. Aidan was tripped yesterday in the game so he got a freethrow but missed. He is way too hard on himself.

After the game I made them an early lunch, then I crashed in my room for about an hour, fell asleep. Then woke up but just could not find the energy to do much. Used a gift certificate to get them dinner at the grass-fed burger place - we ate upstairs in the great room while watching Jimmy Neutron, but I fell asleep sitting on the couch. Got them off to bed at 9, poured myself wine and made a cup of tea, watched a bit of telly, then Gwyn called at 10PM and I said I couldn't talk as I was just about to go to sleep. Was out about 5 minutes later and slept all the way through to 8:30. Weird. Swim lessons today and friends asked if they could send their son over to play before the game. Had him over, made them peanut butter and jam sandwiches but had to explain that we were out of bread, could they have it on an English muffin or a bagel? They chose the English muffin. This kid is a majorly picky eater, so I was glad to see he actually ate his sandwich. Thankfully, his parents offered to take the boys to their soccer game which is out in the back of beyond, so that's where the one child is now. Liot is upstairs playing on his computer. Have to go to Whole Foods for bread after Aidan is dropped off.

Liot and I are going to play Monopoly Jr. now. Ta! 

[jbeany]

Tell Aidan that even the pros don't make free throws more than 75% of the time.  (I had to look it up, but I figured it was NOT going to be perfect!)  College teams average about 70%, and the stat hasn't changed in 50 years.  If he's getting even 2 out of 4, he's doing really, really well.

We constantly have to remind my Little Leaguer nephew that 3 out of 10 is considered a good job in baseball. 

They get so disappointed that they can't be perfect at that age, don't they?   

[cariad]

They get so disappointed that they can't be perfect at that age, don't they?

Oh, completely! And Aidan is not used to being one of the weakest members of the team, but sorry sweetie, you do have half of your mother's genes and basketball was just never going to be the short, fat kid's sport. (tennis was my game) He just wants to feel like he contributed to this team's roaring success, but luckily I taught him the word 'assist' and this satisfy him across a wide spectrum of sports. (Not really baseball, though. Hard to soften the blow with that one.)

Thanks so much for the stats on the pros. I gave Aidan this information tonight in the Emergency Department of the city hospital.

Let me back up a moment.

Aidan had his last practice today. I went to school as I do every Monday, looking forward to seeing the last part of practice and possibly watching Aidan shoot baskets with his friends after. Aidan was being really aggressive, probably, I admit with much guilt, because I suggested that he could stand to be a bit more so in the games. I was talking to another mom, not there even five minutes, and Aidan tried to keep the ball from going out of bounds and in so doing ran directly into the concrete block wall. His arm flew up, so I thought maybe he managed to take most of the impact on his forearm, but when he just stood there with his head in his hands I knew there was trouble. I ran over to him, all the kids were so concerned, it is so sweet to see him on such a close team. The coach came over and I said I didn't know what to do (Gwyn has had so many concussions that he was always the one to check for that). The coach checked him and said he was fine, to watch for vomiting or his pupils going two different diameters. The mother I had been speaking to said I should probably get him checked. I asked him if he wanted to finish practice and he said no, so I went into a bit of a panic. We left, I called ahead to the afterschool to ask S to sign Liot out and take him upstairs. Her daughter just got a bad concussion while ice skating, so she came running out to the car to check Aidan because she had all of this information fresh in her head. She said he looked fine but she also suggested I take him to emergency.

I did. Guess who has a $200 copay? Our insurance sucks. Anyhow, we did not even have a doctor grace us with his presence. They sent in the sweetest PA to talk me out of the CT scan I wanted. She said that it is 300x the radiation level of an x-ray. Of course, I had just read this story out of Long Beach: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/27/joanna-ramos-11-year-old-girl-dead_n_1304134.html I was asking that woman so many questions, rang Gwyn in CA, and we agreed that we would hold off on the CT scan. Aidan was worried that if we had to return we would be out another $200. I told him I could argue that with them, but honestly that would be the least of our worries if we had to come back. I then said You wouldn't believe the money my parents spent just to keep me alive.

S packed pretzels into Liot's backpack which was so lucky since the boys were starving. They inhaled the pretzels. We were back home by 7PM and thankfully I had a carton of chicken soup from Whole Foods to chuck in the micro. Gah, it's going to be a tense night for me. If tomorrow you read the headline Crazed Mother Burns Milwaukee Hospital to the Ground you'll know it's not good news.

Not sure any of this counts as an accomplishment, but there it is.

[chook]

Oh, Cariad, that's a great tale. Sorry to hear that Aidan hit his head and pray that you are not setting fires at the hospital at the moment and all is okay with him.