Did you accomplish anything today?

[cariad]

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.

Aw, thanks, Chook. I am happy to report that all Milwaukee hospitals are still standing.

I woke Aidan right before I went to sleep to check on his mental status. Poor boy. I made him sit up and resolved I would not leave until he could tell me what 7+8 was. I thought this would be easy for him, so panic increased as he answered 'five' and tried to lie back down. Then he thought for a moment and said 'fifty.... I mean...' meanwhile I'm shouting Seven plus eight! Seven PLUS eight! He did eventually get it and I let him go back to sleep.

He has completely recovered it would seem - no more headache this morning.

[jbeany]

Whew!  Glad to hear he's okay.

My accomplishments for Monday - I got to my craft workshop early.  Because I skipped my blood draw.  Ooops.

I got up half an hour early, which is usually plenty of time to run to the little lab a block from my house.  There's only one tech, but she usually cranks people through in 10 minutes, and there's never been more than 3 people when I check in.  Today, however, the waiting room was standing room only - at least a dozen.  Even if half of them were there to keep someone else company, there was no way I was going to get blood work done and be at Gilda's on time to teach.  Sooooo, I took one step into the waiting room, stopped, blinked, said, "Uh-uh," and turned right back around and got into my car. 

I'll try again tomorrow.

Today - I paid rapt attention in my evening legal class.  Because our big certification exam is over and the prof didn't give us anything to work on after all the time we spent cramming for the test on Saturday, there really wasn't anything to do in class.  We watched "My Cousin Vinny" instead.  That counts as legal work, right?

[Poppylicious]

I ate too many sweeties and helped make animals out of plastic bottles and scraps of material.

 

[chook]

I'm doing my fourth day of minding my sister's toy shop - love this job. I take the opportunity to check the children's maths skills if they come in and shop alone. It's frightening how the kids don't understand that 4.99 is almost five dollars, or that they can't buy a toy priced 39.99 with a ten dollar note! I try and explain it all in the small window of time I have with them
@ Cariad - poor Adiain. 7+5 !!!! 

[jbeany]

I cleaned the bathrooms, did the laundry, vacuumed the entire apartment, organized all my materials for the beading workshop I'm teaching tomorrow and loaded all 40-some pounds of beads and supplies into the car.  I'm baking a batch of strawberry scones to take to the class right now and preparing to read my homework assignment.

Oh yeah, and I made an offer on a house today.
Nothing major!   

Cross your fingers for me everyone.  It's a HUD house - I either get it or get out-bid - not likely to be any chance to negotiate in the housing market around here, so I'm hoping I'm the first bidder with a decent offer.

[cassandra]

good luck Jbeany, how long before you hear?

I've ordered my meds, decided to ring the hosp for email address of Neph so I can start my 'I want Nxstage campaign', and have decided to make yet an other cup of coffee.

xx Cas

[jbeany]

good luck Jbeany, how long before you hear?

At least a week before I know if I just spent the most money ever in one day!

[Poppylicious]

I spent two and a bit hours gardening.  It was a trifle difficult because the sun is out and the cats just wanted to flop about in my company, but always in the bit I wanted to hoe/rake/weed/mow.  Pesky creatures.  I was also nice to the JWs who handed me a leaflet.  If I hadn't been gardening I might have invited them in for coffee. 

 

[JustDee]

I can totally relate Jbeany....we are also trying to buy a home and the wait is torture.  We want to downside but we have to wait for the house to go thru Probate before we find out if it's going to be Ours.  Hubby found it, made the offer and I am so relieved NOT to have to make any decisions I totally fell in love with it even though the kitchen is a bit small (what the heck, I'm not suppose to eat anything anyway).  When someone else takes the initiative to make plans or take the lead on a decision....I feel so "take care of"...I LOVE IT!!!
And what did I do today...let's see...I worked 10 hours (I use the word work loosely, I was there physically but mostly in my usual fog) I'll go home at 1 in the  morning, turn on the TV and fall into oblivion and beyond....ahhhhhhhh.

[jbeany]

I got outbid on the house.  Ah, well - time to shop some more!

I picked up my kitten, plus one.  The woman who had them sent me a message 5 minutes before I left, "Someone just backed out on another kitten.  Do you want two?"  Urrgh...of course I do.  Just tape that lollipop to my forehead and call me sucker.  At least I don't have to worry about them being alone while I'm at work all day.

[cassandra]

sorry to hear about the house Jbeany. But the kittens will make you forget that one house soon as they will keep not only eachother but also youself nicely entertained

                                                                 


better luck next time thought (with the house) and enjoy those kittens.

[Joe]

We moved over the weekend. Downsizing the house from the monster we've been in for 13 years to something more workable for just the wife and me. It's been a looooooooooooong weekend, but we're 98% in and just have the piano and grandfather clock left to move. Those are being done by professionals tomorrow (I do know my limitations!)

[cariad]

OK! I am going to go back to Monday because everything from then until now has blurred together:

Packed up in LA, Gwyn worked from home which really consisted of him sitting on his work computer and mobile as they went through some excruciatingly boring meeting. Packed up, did dishes so Gwyn would not have to deal with it, and then he drove us to the airport for 2PM. Everything went smoothly, I even managed to get their juice boxes through security. (I just pop them in their backpacks and if anyone calls me on it, which has not happened yet, I'll just say I forgot they were in there. Saves us a small fortune.) Then, thanks to Colorado wildfire, the plane is delayed hours. What was going to be a rough but manageable day turned into a 12:30 AM arrival, returning home and not getting the kids in bed until almost 2AM, and trying to ignore the creeping suspicion I had that the furnace was no longer functioning. Luckily, the weather had been freakishly tropical whilst we were away.

I tell the kids I won't be taking them to school tomorrow (not enough sleep) and I drag them and myself out of bed around 9:45. Furnace is definitely sickly. Gwyn calls around to find someone, I take the kids to Noodles & Co where I have a voucher and we have lunch in normal temperature conditions. Return, tell the kids to get ready they are going to their afterschool program way early. I get there and run into all the lovely teachers, talking a mile a minute because I have to get back to meet furnace tech. I have a 5:30 class but have already resolved that I will miss half of it. Furnace tech is waiting at the door for me when I return. I have to lead him into the basement. I am afraid of the basement. I put on a brace face and get a crash course in how our furnace system works. He is not entirely sure what has gone wrong, but he was able to fix it and it cost under $200, so that was not too painful. He leaves, I open my school email, prof sent us readings for that day on Sunday, apparently moments after I checked my email for the last time. I begin reading furiously, cannot get through it all before I have to collect the boys, run in to one of our support people from the transplant, so I update him on all the news and he asks if I think this would make a good documentary. (I'll talk about that somewhere else.)

Get the boys home, leave for class, arrive with about an hour and a half left. It was a depressing but enlightening class about the privatization of water and water contamination and scarcity. Get home, get the kids to bed who are still way off schedule. I don't think they fell asleep until close to 11PM. I could not sleep either and was up until past 1AM. Woke up at 4:30AM and could not get back to sleep. Drag kids out of bed at customary 7AM, finish getting ready for trip to Chicago. I had my two-year follow up. I want to talk all about it in the transplant section because it was just amazing!!! Will pick up kids in about 90 minutes, we will grab pizza from Whole Foods and watch that new Muppet Movie that I bought them on Amazon digital. We are all so draggy but this should finally get us back on local time. California was great fun, I'll post a pickie or two later if I can get G to email them to me.

[jbeany]

Proofed and edited a 20 page law school paper on the death penalty for a friend. 

DID MY TAXES.      Only owe $4 in state use tax for internet purchases.  No refund, but I'm happy with only owing a few dollars.

[cassandra]

great JB that's peanuts.

today I did the weeks shopping, did some housework, went for a birthday-lunch with some D, and former D girls. Very, very tyring, and I did have to take some extra Diazepam

[cariad]

I called LL Bean straight after getting the kids off to school. They make the best kids spring/autumn jackets in the world, but there've problems with a broken zip on both of Aidan's fleece-lined camp coats.

Made a walnut burger for lunch with salsa instead of mayo. I find I don't really want rich foods any longer.

Phoned all around town trying to find someplace that could give me my vaccines. Anywhere could do TDAP, fewer had meningitis, only the travel clinic can do HiB, and I would have to pay out of pocket as they don't deal with insurance. Someone suggested those little clinics that are now attached to Walgreens, so I walked down to my local one and boy were they happy to see me. I guess they don't get a lot of traffic, which is one of the reasons I chose them. The woman wanted to hear all about the clinical trial, a sure sign that she has time on her hands. They could not do HiB, but at least I got the two out of the way, and the tetanus was not that bad.

I bought Easter candy, finally. I have not been to a Target in months, but they sell their candy at sale prices, so that was nice. Not looking forward to doing Easter Bunny duty on my own. I broke down and bought white eggs for the kids to dye. Whole Foods were selling organic white eggs for $2.50/dozen which is insanely cheap. Somehow we got into this tradition (little toddler Aidan made it up) where the boys dye eggs and then hide them for the Easter Bunny to find. The Easter Bunny eats them but leaves candy. Which means I have to not only help them hide the eggs but find them all and make egg salad immediately, then keep that at the back of the fridge so they are not tipped off by the technicolor food.

Back to Whole Foods late afternoon for their pizza. Collected the boys, on the way home they were singing My Brother The Ape by They Might Be Giants (a song about evolution) and Aidan said to Liot "You'd make a good pet ape". Liot got that look on his face that seems to say well, that's obvious and instead earnestly corrected Aidan with  "I'd make a good pet golden tamarin."

The jabs made me so sleepy. I dozed off watching television and am ready to go back for more.

[galvo]

You're a busy girl, cariad.

[cariad]

You're a busy girl, cariad.

Nah, just verbose!

[willowtreewren]

Did I accomplish anything today? 

Let me preface this with the little tidbit that I came down with Lyme Disease Sunday night....

I boiled water for hummingbird food, and feeling rather energetic, I took the trash out. BIG mistake. My legs got so shaking taking that bit of extra walk that I almost didn't make it back into the house. And because I was carrying the trash, I didn't carry my cell phone. I will not make THAT mistake again. The phone goes with me everywhere....like I'm moving around alot. That means I carry it from the chair to the couch and back.

After that little fiasco, I had my first pity party since this all started. No telling how long this is going to last....

Then I sucked it up and organized a stack of "junk" that Carl had kindly put out for me.

Oh, and this morning I was able to remain sitting up until 10:30 AM!!! Wonders never cease. 

All I can say is that I have two incredible speeds - sitting and prone. Sometimes I break into a shuffle, but not very often!

Aleta

[cariad]

Oh, Aleta. I can remember being that ill myself. I hope you are improving with each day. At least you've kept your humor, I certainly got some giggles reading your vivid description of your day.

I went out to the suburbs today.  I decided I needed to go to Trader Joes for more of the inexpensive but lovely tea that I ice, plus their wonderful breakfast bars that are now $2/box (used to be $1.69! ) As i was helping myself to their free, hot coffee, I looked up at a woman waiting for me to finish pouring, and I swear it was my aunt. Her husband sued his brother (now deceased) and rather than work it out between the two of them as my late uncle wanted, he took it all the way to court. My late uncle still left his brother's kids a substantial sum of money. This guy is a creep, and I don't want to see either of them, so I just gave a quick smile and went about my business. I doubt she even recognised me, it's been over 5 years. They stayed away from the funeral out of respect for my uncle's widow who detests them both.

Aside from shopping, cleaned quite a bit, made a banana cake for the kids (need confectioners sugar for the cream cheese frosting, they will just have to have it with chocolate or caramel sauce tonight) and emailed Northwestern about the vaccines. That's not very much now that I see it written out, not sure where the day went. I overslept quite a bit this morning but the kids were so excited for spring break that they were already awake at 7:15. Got them to the afterschool for 9AM, in plenty of time for the coach to the zoo. Liot is obsessed with tamarins, it was the first thing he mentioned when I asked about the zoo. Aidan rang a friend tonight - I think that's the first time he's ever done that. Typical of this generation, they've texted each other frequently. They are planning to film a little movie that they've written and they want to use the park across the way from us. So cute!

[Joe]

We finished moving out of the old house this weekend. Got all the odds and ends of stuff out and cleaned the hard floors. Carpet cleaner coming in tomorrow to wrap it up. We are scheduled for the final closing on Friday and we'll be done with it  Now we just have to find space in the new house for all the stuff that came out of the old one. Downsizing by about half is going to make that really interesting.

[willowtreewren]

We finished moving out of the old house this weekend. Got all the odds and ends of stuff out and cleaned the hard floors. Carpet cleaner coming in tomorrow to wrap it up. We are scheduled for the final closing on Friday and we'll be done with it  Now we just have to find space in the new house for all the stuff that came out of the old one. Downsizing by about half is going to make that really interesting.

Joe, if you have any good tips on that down-sizing task, let me know. We will be facing that in a few years!

So, I'm still operating on severe energy deficit. 

After Carl left for school, I remained in my upright position until the dentist's office opened at 8:00. I have to get my teeth thoroughly checked due to that spate of severe shivering the other day. I know I broke one tooth, and I'm pretty sure two more are badly cracked. The phone was busy so I left a message. I also needed to talk with Baxter about a delivery for Hanify, who is visiting from New Zealand on Friday. I figured that I might be on the phone for a while, so instead of calling them, I wait for the return call from the dentist. It was about ten minutes (with my up-right fuel tank ticking away) before they call back. OMG! I can't get in to see them until April 19!!!! Oh, well. the tooth aches are nothing compared to the headaches, so I guess I'll survive. 

Then the call to Baxter..... holding, holding, holding.... ah! a real live person.... but, wait..... I need to talk to the international representative....holding, holding... yes, yes, I get the right person, but she has to find the account.....holding, holding, holding. My upright energy level is slipping..... I get all that squared away (I hope).

By then it was time for my 9:00 AM medicine, for which I hoist myself into super upright position (otherwise know as walking) and shuffle over to the table to take the magic antibiotic that is going to eventually bring life back to normal.

It is important that I remain upright for another 30 minutes after this so I don't experience [more] gastric distress. Okay, that is a good time frame for taking a shower and getting dressed.

Hoo boy! After getting in the shower I contemplated just how stupid THAT might have been, but found a close friendship with the hand bars that some knowing person incorporated into the shower design.

Upon collapsing into my chair, now fully dressed and clean, I completed a list of things that all the poor souls covering for me at work will need to do this week (in the likely event that I'm going to miss another week of school), and then answered a couple of e-mails. I cannot attest to the coherence of my work on either of these tasks.

I'm pretty sure by this time that if I assume my prone position I will fall into a deep sleep, so I stumble to the couch. Oh oh. I didn't remember to bring the phone with me....Stumble back to the chair, get phone and a tissue...Now I'm all set.

Once in the prone position, I feel myself falling, falling blissfully into that semi-conscious state.....until the phone rings. It is Carl checking on me. Oh, I'm glad I had gotten the phone. Once I assure him that I was not all the way asleep and we ring off, I actually DO fall into that oblivious state.....until the phone rings again. Automated sales call. 

Twenty minutes of sleep was NOT enough! So that's what I have accomplished so far this morning. The good news is that I have all afternoon for further accomplishments (including another nap!)

 

Aleta

[Joe]

Aleta, the trick is selective packing; First pass through, anything with an inch of dust on it isn't needed. Second pass through, keep one thing, donate one thing - that should get you down pretty quickly.  We're at the start of the second pass. It all just isn't going to fit in the new house. The new place is only 2100 sq ft, about half of what we had before. It's going to take a thorough scrub of what we hang on to. But we'll get there.

[willowtreewren]

LOL, Joe,

Our down-sizing will be a bit more drastic. We will be moving into an 850 square foot apartment! We have some lovely antique furniture that will NOT fit.

We are already donating and giving away lots of stuff to prepare for "the move." It will not come until 4-5 years down the pike, but it is going to be hard to down-size enough at the last minute. Plus, I think that would be an awful shock to the system!

 

Aleta

[jbeany]

Aleta -

Watch one of these...

http://www.aetv.com/hoarders/video/?paidlink=1&cmpid=PaidSearch_Google_AETV_hoarders_hoarders%2Bepisodes&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=hoarders&utm_term=hoarders%20episodes

After watching, sort, toss and donate.  Repeat. 
Trust me, it helps!

Also, start scanning photos now.  Digital storage takes up far less room than photo albums.  6 laundry baskets worth of photo albums are now down to one small box and a flash drive smaller than a pack of gum.

Start sorting books now, too.  If you don't reread them regularly, they can go.