Remembering those who have served, on this Veterans' Day.
My beloved has a birthday next weekend. I am never, ever to repeat the 40th birthday surprise party, but we'll have a nice family dinner. It is surprisingly difficult to schedule 6 adults.
News this week: we are on track for one of the driest calendar years evah. Bleah.
For reasons unknown -- or, if you prefer, my advanced procrastination techniques -- I'm suddenly stuck on holiday planning. Will need to make a number of fun felt stockings, and am thinking about designs. Secret stocking stuffer tip: this website stocks individual/travel sizes of all kinds of things! I was looking for gourmet items in tiny jars, but they have just about anything you can think of, including items for special diets. Tons of single-serving spices and sauces (perfect for backpackers or those traveling to the land of bland food).
Fluids: the elderly diva cat has decided to pee on the bathroom floor. All.the.time. Better than the carpet, but still darned weird.
What's on your mind?
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AW: new computer has arrived, and it is so cute!
W: the learning curve. Wind0ws Ocho is just about as good as you've heard. Actually, here's my review: it's Wind0ws Siete, with some fancy, but fragile, wrapping paper.
AW: fun day at the river with some friends and the Baboos.
W: Chigger bites. Seriously. It's November.
AW: only two of them, and only on me.
W: they ITCH!! In un-scratchable places!!
Yay for the new computer! Yay for river fun! But yikes, chiggers? Passing the calamine...
Kinda funny W: you know how little kids do that hot, breathy whisper in your ear thing? Mini loves it.
You're the one she wants to tell her secrets to!
They're safe, because I can't understand anything she's saying!
Chigger magic, thanks to a doc at my old university health center: put clear nail polish over the bite. Sounds crazy, but it worked for me when he suggested it.
Chiggers! Eep!
W: I've gone too long between haircuts, and my pixie cut had fine mullettacular. My hair feels so gross. And I have to wait until Wednesday for a cut, because the salon is normally closed on Mondays, and so they're being Tuesday off in lieu.
Bonus related whine: I accidentally booked a playdate at 1pm on Wednesday and a haircut at 2:45. Figuring out what to do. (I sent a message to my friend, asking if it would be terrible for me to leave E there she run get my haircut, since my salon is near her house.)
Unrelated whine: My in-laws' house is not very baby proof. So many cool antiques at floor level. Visiting them is tiring.
Related AW: they're helping us refurbish my old wee table and chairs for E! This is really special for me.
Gone, not fine mullettacular.
My young relative does NOT have a br@in tum0r or cyst. They still haven't figured out what's wrong with him, but this is very good news.
Yay, PK!
YAY!!!
"Mulletacular" is an excellent addition to the lexicon. ;)
Yes, on the mulletacular addition kathy!
We had location issues with our big boy kitteh re: litterbox issues. Like you said, at least it's not the carpet.
Thanks for the link to stocking stuffers!
esperanza - ick on the chiggers but hooray for new laptop!
Yay PK!!! That's great news, though it is a concern that they have no diagnosis yet. Hopefully soon.
QWP - hope the haircut/playdate works out.
W: Putting out conflict fires this week and expending precious energy trying not to be triangled. Grrr.... This is NOT highschool people and I'm not going to tell ANYONE that you said to tell them xyz... Let's pretend we're grown ups, 'kay?
Go, Sue! Let us all go forth and skip the drama. falalalalaaaa.
QWP -- best on arranging the haircut/playdate situation!
Crossed fingers that the inlaws spontaneously decide to move the breakables above toddler level. On the other hand, refinishing wee furniture!
The county drainage commission totally--and I mean totally--trashed and damaged our property when they cleaned out the ditch bordering our property. It's been weeks now, and they haven't done the cleanup or repairs they promised. Plus, there's still a fireplacing giant tractor parked on our property, besides the piles of brush, barbed wire, fence posts, mud and old tires. And the fact that they ripped limbs off our beautiful old oak and cedar trees with a tractor, tore down fence and trees they promised they'd try to save while making absolutely no attempt to do so, and didn't replace the fence posts or do anything to control erosion as promised. Aaaaargh!
W/AW: EDD less than 4 weeks away. Eeek!
And the heartburn/reflux. Oy!
pk, hooray on the good news, and ugh on the county dragging its feet.
W: my shoulder hurts! I slept on it wrong the other night, and then spent too many hours crouched over the sewing machine today.
AW: heating pad. Advil.
PKK, yay about medical news!
And, just a thought, a phone call letting them know that you will be writing a letter (about the fact that you have children, and the shameful way they left your property unfenced, destroyed etc. might result in their liability if one of your children gets injured), might just get them to move things along. And, you might not even have to write the letter.
I know that's the last thing you want to deal with with EDD 4 weeks away, but the words children and liability in the same sentence may get them in gear?
Just a thought....
And, if it feels annoying to get advice then I'll just empathize and say that that absolutely stinks and we should send our cluestick posse because no one should add stress for a pregnant lady!!!!!
:)
Hugs,
Neighbor Lady
I've spent so much time writing letters, making phone calls, and going into various offices trying to find some way to make somebody deal with it. The other two drainage commissioners (there are three for this district) haven't returned my calls, and everyone else I've talked to has basically said there's nobody in authority ovet these guys and they have the power to do whatever they deem necessary to maintain the easement.
Last ditch (ha!) effort might be to hire a lawyer to write a letter threatening a lawsuit if they don't remedy the dangerous situation.
It is true; something on legal letterhead does tend to get results. Are there any local news people who do stories on stuff that can be fixed by officials and isn't?
There's a clear need for a cluestick posse on p_k's behalf.
On the other hand: due date soon! Exciting!
AW: playdate and haircut are both on. My friend will watch Li'l E while I get The Mullet tamed. It worked out really well: my friend lives just around the corner from my salon.
AW: integration of a comfort item into Li'l E's bedtime routine has been an astounding success. Since yesterday, she's taken her beloved stuffed bunny with her to bed, and she has stayed asleep for much longer for every sleep. I'm now tempted to go and buy one more of that identical bunny, just in case.
W: My printer is broken, and I need to print stuff, and the replacement printer I want is out of stock at any place that had a good price, and in stock at places that are charging nearly double!
W: I'm feeling stalled on my chapter again, and have low motivation to deal with it. I just saw a picture of a friend's grad, and now I'm in a "Will I finish? Is there any point in finishing?" malaise.
YES, looking forward to the baby news, PK!
Hooray for comforting lovies! How frustrating, about the printer.
Much sympathy about stalling on the chapter. But you can do it!
I was so excited to finish this big chunk of albatross a little while back that I cut myself too much slack on the next albatross installment, and now I'm behind again. With no good excuse. bleah.
You can do it!
Re: spare bunny. Do it if you can switch them out nightly or weekly so that they smell and feel right.
YES, get a spare bunny. This will spare you calls to the gas station where lovey might have fallen out of the car at 9 PM. Um, or something. And what Liz said about switching them out so they age similarly.
Re: printer. Do any of the $$ places have price matching?
Re: albatrosses (albatrossi?): one bite at a time.
Ooooh, great minds! A spare is good, and switching out is perfect! The smell and feel are important.
Re printer -- does another location of the store with the deal have one they could send over?
I remember I had several identical Fisher Price Little People who I could TOTALLY tell apart. (One had hair that was a bit faded, the other had a chipped smile...yadayada)
Well, there is that. The loveys get their own marks and dents. Each kid has his/her own peculiarities about the comfort item, too -- my son was OK with switching out his squeaky pacifier (seeing how they all started suffering from Sudden Binky Death Syndrome once he got teeth), but it absolutely had to be the right brand of squeaky pacifier (which they did not sell where we were living at the time of crisis).
Oh pk, I hope the situation with the county sorts out quickly. Yay for the due date but boo for the reflux (booo!)
QWP - spare bunny, yup. I'm glad the play date worked out with the upcoming Taming of the Mullet.
Sorry about the albatrossi (lexicon, yes?) - you can do it!!!!!
Book Study session one today - only moderately successful. Fewer in attendance than last winter's Sabbath study, but still a good crew. A few people hated the book but that's always good for discussion purposes. Two more weeks to go.
La la la, I do not hear you about the badness of pacifiers! Those binkies kept me on this side of the abyss. :)
Kathy, for shame! You KNOW we would never denigrate the binky. What Ever Works is the WW motto. Or would be, if we had one.
Who said something bad about pacifiers (well, Sweet and Mini made their opinions perfectly clear, but who besides that?)
Mom shaming was a thing, even 25 years ago when we didn't have the internet, and only heard about it via Important Books, and snail mail enclosing clipped newspaper articles, and phone calls.
We do need a motto, don't we?
And in-person shaming, of course. I'm pretty sure there are still people who claim their patootie-pie slept through the night at 3 days and used the potty reliably at 14 months, and learned German or to play the harp at 2.5 years, and so on. And maybe some kids can.
But, I'm all in favor of safe comfort for the afflicted.
"Whatever works" sounds like a very good motto for WW. I have to remind myself of that daily.
AW: My literal Elevated Risk of Mullet has been neutralized! Back to the pixie cut. I am greatly relieved.
W: to keep me humble in the face of my Awesome Haircut (you guys! I'm digging it! Anything is possible in a world where I have this haircut!), a cup of yogurt exploded all over me. So many white specks all over my clothes.
See, we're sisters! If something can spill all over me, it does.
Tonight's gourmet experiment with thai curry is an adventure, in which I dropped an entire bag of mini-peppers on the floor, plopped too much rice into the rice cooker, wondered whether fish sauce is really necessary given that we aren't entirely sure which decade our bottle is from, and substituted a mexican product labeled "coconut juice, with pulp!" for coconut milk. But it features lots of veggies! That I washed well!
Another vote for "Whatever Works" - great motto.
I'm glad the Happy Haircut is working out. As for the spilling, sigh. I am a breathing, walking placemat. Seriously.
Whatever Works is now our motto.
Liz, thanks for updating the banner!
My dental insurance company decided my name is inconvenient for them, so they gave me a name they like better. Ralph.
Just kidding (about Ralph, not the rest of it). They gave me my SIL's name -- my first, hubby's last.
Oy. That's not good.
Oh, brother.
Can Ralph be our mascot?
"I am a breathing, walking, placemat" earns Sue a nomination for Mullet.
Mullet nomination noted. This is quite the week for mullets!
I LOVE the idea of having a mascot named Ralph, the person you aren't but someone thinks you should be!
I'm pretty sure Ralph could head up the cluestick posse most weeks.
Second the nomination. All in favor?
Aye.
Aye.
And I have a place for Ralph to visit.
Kid at afterschool care still giving Neighbor Boy a hard time, calling him f@t etc.
He has been using his words, telling him to stop, and today said to stop or he would tell the director. (Meanwhile, behind the scenes I have been emailing the director but trying to let NB handle it himself. ) Now, today, NB finally talked to the director and they have a plan for the communication and check ins to continue.
Ugh, this stuff is hard.
--Neighbor Lady
Oh, Neighbor Lady. Ralph's ready with the posse. I think you are handling this really well! Just wonderful that NB has used his words with the bully, then talked to the director, and there is a plan!
But it is really hard. xoxo
Great banner Liz!
NL, I'm so sorry this is happening. Dang, it's tough to be a kid. Ralph is on the way with the posse!
AW: Moment of Awesomeness! I had to deal with a potentially sticky conflict at the church tonight and I think I handled it really well. I played the tough cop a bit, but it got their attention.
I stayed entirely out of the details of the conflict between these two who have to work together even if they don't like it - at least for a few months on a project. So I managed to avoid being triangled!!! Yay!!!
Best part - I think they understood that they need to suck it up and behave like grown-ups (because they ARE grown ups after all). They will be sorting out their personal stuff on their own time.
All in a day's work.
Sue! for the win!
Yay, Sue!
Old Skool (or definite First World Whine): my new laptop does not get as warm as my old one. It's "cold" here (by our standards), and I miss snuggling up with my old laptop on the couch. Sad, but true.
Diva cat is (and has been for a long time now) snuggled right up against the heat vent on my laptop. Alas, I will soon shut down; and when I attempt to read / sleep, she will spend the rest of the night attempting to sprawl on my body. Her goal is the stomach to chin area; my goal is to prevent that from ever happening.
Wow, so proud of everybody and their kids!
Would you believe the county came and got the tractor today. . . But they left everything else, including the piles of old tires that they brought in with the tractor to cushion the road, on our property. I'm seriously tempted to call the police and report them for illegal dumping, then call the erosion board and whoever is in charge of pursuing the unpermitted destruction of native plants while I'm at it. And then get an estimate of the value of the damaged trees and fencing and the cleanup costs and file against the property for damages. Problem is, the way the law is written I think they are allowed to pay any costs associated with maintenance of the drainage ditches and easements by dividing the cost between all the landowners benefitting from the ditch and imposing a special levy on those landowners to pay for it. I hate politics.
File against the county for damages.
P_K, I opt for filing, and also for you running for office.
W: Nosebleed. Mega ultra nosebleed.
W: Blood on my pretty pink turtleneck.
AW: Sale at llbean.com on turtlenecks.
LIZ! Well, there's the sale, but otherwise...
Extreme albatross development this morning, and wouldn't you know it, things are a bit wrinkled insofar as how this will actually go. But I think it's mostly a yay, let's finish this one up.
What Liz said, PK.
Sorry about the nosebleed Liz - those are not pleasant. Timely sale though...
Sorry about the wrinlkle kathy!
W: I wish the mayor of a certain big city would just shut the heck up. The guy needs help, but he's so disgusting and aggressive it's hard to muster up a lot of sympathy. His council sent a strong message today by taking away much of his admin power. Now he needs to go away. Seriously - he's such an embarrassment.
Yep, Sue. Guy's got a problem. Ralph's on it.
Is it bad that Texas feels relieved that the mayor acting like an idiot is not from our state? Nothing against Canada, it's just a relief that they don't ALL belong to us :)
The rest of the country's still scratching our heads about how he got into office.
AW: tonight I got all dressed up and went to Mr. Q's school's fundraiser auction. It was fun! And I got a $75 gift card for the place where we get our hair cut, for $50! Plus spa treatment products, which I'm going to turn into a Christmas present. Score!
AW (related): *sound of trumpets* Li'l E successfully went to bed for a babysitter tonight! She was awesome, and this opens up so many more possibilities for me getting out of the house.
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