Hi, whining pixies! I have returned from the women's retreat, somehow both rested and exhausted, energized and absolutely wiped. So: standard post-retreat feelings. I had a lovely weekend, being a visitor at a retreat for a denomination that's very much not my own (my friend invited me, because our friend -- who is from yet another denominational background -- was the speaker). I ended up knowing more people there than I expected, and came home with a little stack of books and way too many notes about stuff to process.
And now I'm home. Upon my return, E informed me that while I missed her, that she was having too much fun to miss me. (I'm so glad she had a good weekend with Mr. Q). But then she was clingy to me this morning, and tried to argue that she should stay home from preschool to be with me. It took some hyping up of preschool to get her out the door today (and I ended up carrying her half the way there, because her legs allegedly didn't work), but she got there, and I finally have some time entirely to myself. I was going to try to get work done during this window of time, but I have a feeling that this will be my only chance to rest and recover today, because I imagine that the kiddo will be all over me when she gets home. And so, right now (and for the next 12 minutes, until I need to be out the door), I will do nothing but put my feet up and drink tea.
How's it going where you are?
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87 comments:
Sounds like a great weekend! Except the exhausted part.
Thanks for hosting this week!
W: headachy. AW: quiet day around here, except for the roof work next door.
Sending love and good feet up feelings to you, QWP!
Sorry about the headache, Kathy.
AW: Walked 10K steps by noon today, finished cleaning out the spare bedroom. Scheduled Muffin Man for a CT scan of his sinuses (expecting to find a deviated septum, like his dad had.
W: Gotta actually do some work.
OMG! Someone local just invited me to a "salon" with Laurie R. King! Just love this author. Wednesday! Everything looks brighter, all of a sudden. :)
OOOOOOoooooooooooohhhhhhh! I love Laurie R. King!!!!!! So exciting, Kathy!!! Please report back!
Sorry about the headache!
QWP, sounds like a good retreat! Welcome home, and hope the feet up helped!
Liz... wow! Sounds like you deserve some feet up time too!
:) Neighbor Lady
NL, how are things? xoxo
Things are pretty crazy busy, and this year has it ups and downs at school, but all in all.... knock wood.... doing ok.
:)
Thanks for checking in... I'll try and write more later, but (shock!) have some school stuff to take care of for tomorrow now...
:)
Neighbor Lady
I'm glad you checked in, NL! I understand the hectic school year (she says, just after the husband popped his head upstairs to say that he'll try to be done working by midnight). I'm glad that things are okay (knock wood) so far!
AW: we got through the day intact! I got E to a pediatrician appointment, and he was actually pleased about how she has barely ever had to use her inhaler. Once he heard about how it was basically helpful but not necessary for calming down her breathing during a couple of colds, he wanted to approach things in terms of seasonal allergies instead of asthma (and therefore decided to discontinue her inhaler use for the time being, with the understanding that the next time she gets wheezy, she goes straight back to see him within a day). (He also said, "I don't care if the front desk says they're booking me into the next month. Leave me a message and I'll get her in right away.") He was really pleased with how she's doing in general, and we chatted a lot about how far she's come, considering all the issues she had when she was born. I'm so pleased: these appointments used to be so stressful, with a bunch of specialist referrals. Now, we just have general checkups, and reminders to take her to the dentist and the optometrist.
Good, QWP! Getting allergies under control does a LOT.
NL -- go, team! Know you have a lot to do, but glad overall it's going OK. (You're on the kids' team.)
W: I'm supposed to be tapering off of caffeine for the next few days, but I also had a night of reduced sleep (at least I got six hours, however!). I think I'm going to caffeinate a bit more than I planned today, so that I have the energy to do other than staring at the wall while E watches all the PBS Kids.
W/AW: more bleeding evidence of Junior cat's love for me.
W: 21 more days. Of. Insanity.
AW: Leftover night! The happiest dinner of the week!
AW: Sunshine, baby! And not cold, not hot.
It's leftover night here, too!!! YUM.
W: Muffin Man texted me that his school is on lock-down, and he had no further info. Sheriff's office (I called their non-emergency number) says it's because they were responding to a call in the area and wanted kids off the fields and to have as few pedestrians/cars in the area as possible and that it's NOT an active shooter situation. No further info.
This comes on top of a different high school having had a bomb threat last week.
Can we just fireplacing have a civil society? PLEASE?
Oh, Liz! Yes, I also vote for civility.
xoxo
I bought a little pumpkin to put on our mailbox today. That's the intergenerational signal of goodwill, isn't it?
I vote for civility too, Liz.
Our leftover night was last night. Most yummy.
I'm glad you had a good weekend QWP! Sorry about the exhaustion/headachy part though. :( good news about E's ped appointment too.
I'm glad things are going well for you NL.
AW: I'm on study leave this week, so it's nice to have a flex schedule. The week quickly filled up with appointments for hubby and stuff with in-laws, but that's okay. It's nice not to squish said appointments into a work day.
I had lunch with a friend today - super nice bonus!!!
Very nice bonus, Sue! And I hear you about flexible time being quickly filled. I'm glad that it's still in the anti-whine category.
I third/fourth everyone else's calls for civility. I presume the lockdown situation is over by now, and am glad it wasn't anything scarier, Liz.
Cross all appendages for our night tonight: E has declared herself too much of a big girl to wear a pull up to bed anymore. (This is convenient, because I just looked at our supply, and realised we only had 9 left, and was dreading the trip to C0stc0.) In my mind, I know that she's almost always dry in the morning, but I suspect there will be some interrupted nights as we transition. (I layered fitted sheets and thick towels for quick changes, at the recommendation of someone here, a couple of years ago.) I was hoping to hold off until she was independent on the potty, as at this point her getting up means we're getting up too. But I want to encourage this progress.
Good luck, QWP! (But I wouldn't turn down an extra box of pullups, just in case. They are also really absorbent if there is a leak in your car, or something -- and are good to offer friends in need. Just sayin'.)
Sue, great about study leave and flex time! Fingers crossed that all settles with your in-laws.
And woot! Lunch with a friend! I tried to schedule one of those, and we settled on mid-November! (Wish I was kidding.)
Kathy: I was thinking the same thing. E cycles through different preferred things (in fact, she asked to spend the day in a pull up, just a few days ago), and so I was thinking that maybe I'd buy one more, small box. If we don't end up opening it, we can donate it. (This was my approach to formula as well: we didn't need it after about a month post-NICU, but I figured that I'd rather have it on hand in case of emergency, than have to run out and buy some. And then, once it was clear we wouldn't be using it, we donated it to the food bank that's part of the high school teen parent program.)
Yes, lock down ended. It was a domestic violence situation in a residence near the school. I had Muffin Manhome with me by 6:30 PM.
Liz on iPhone
Oy. Glad MM got home OK, and the kids were OK.
Darn; not going to be able to make it this afternoon to see Laurie King....
Never have I wished so hard for something to be over, as this election.
I'm glad that MM is safe, Liz.
We in Canada are wishing the same, Kathy. (And I know the polls look good, but I know I'll be breathing better once it's all over.)
AW: E stayed dry through the night!
W: but woke up at 5:50AM, as expected. Hopefully she'll adjust quickly.
As one of my friends joked, "I won't calm down until the polls predict a 110% chance of victory."
Kathy, I'm sorry you're missing Laurie King.
Went to an oral surgeon about my TMJ today. It started when I was a kid after banging my face while swimming (and breaking a tooth), and it's been a pain on and off for the last 37 years. I've had chiropractors work on it every decade or so, but it's never percolated to the top of the to do list until now, despite locking open every so often.
Good news is, according to the oral surgeon, it's mild. He prescribed physical therapy with a TMJ specialist, a heating pad, muscle relaxants, and a bite guard.
I probably should have listened to the myriad dentists who recommended bite guards all these years, right? But I thought they were doing a sales pitch like with the tooth whitening thing they sell. Especially since I don't grind my teeth.
Live and learn.
Yay, Liz, for getting this checked! And that it's not so bad. Hear ya on the sales pitches, too. No use kicking yourself. Upward and onward! xoxo
Related whine/antiwhine, he told me to avoid bagels, steak, and other tough, chewy foods. I said, "NO BAGELS???? But I bake them myself!" And he said, "You make your own bagels? That's hardcore"
So I am hardcore, but am not able to eat yummy yummy bagels or tasty tasty steak.
It's a good thing this news came AFTER it was confirmed I don't have silent reflux, or I'd be crying in a corner right now.
(Laughing about the oral surgeon calling Liz "hardcore" for making her own bagels. That's delightful.) That's really sad that you can't have bagels or steak! For how long? Indefinitely, or until you've done some physical therapy?
Very fresh bagels, and very thinly sliced tender steak -- rule-breaking, the smart way. He's thinking of 3 day old bagels, and steaks resembling shoe leather.
You could slice the bagels thin, too.
Why yes, I am the person who had extensive dental work done in the past, and used to celebrate each victory with a [not-approved] chocolate old-fashioned donut. There was this great shop right downhill from the dental clinic. I figured it balanced things out.
How long? Possibly forever. Alas. But yes, I think I can see my way clear to eating fork-tender prime rib and bagels right out of the oven cut into chip-sized bits.
That's the spirit!
Go, Liz! Now I want bagels. And prime rib. :) I'm glad MM got home safely too.
Sorry you have to miss your author night, kathy. :(
QWP, I like the idea of having the extra box just in case, then donating if not needed. Saves a panic trip to the store later.
Chicken picatta and rice -- which is still good, even though I missed some of the sauce ingredients. Like the bulk of the liquid. Nummers anyway!
A wee happy story about a tiny election, to distract from the big one also happening: so, we have a city election happening next week. And I have been stumped about who to vote for, for my city councilor, because I can't stand the incumbent (and have been talking big game about how I was counting the days until I could vote against him), but all the other options seemed like duds. All of them (and we have 6 running in our area, which is a lot) seem like worse options than the incumbent. BUT today I was reading through the fliers sent out by a bunch of them, and one of them sounded better than I had initially suspected (he'd used a few key phrases in the past that I thought could be red flags, but he explained himself better in the flier), and so I emailed him to ask him for more information about his platform! And he responded within hours, with a really thoughtful response that was better than I hoped! (It also turns out that his wife was the nice real estate agent who helped us buy our house, and so after I found that out, I was hoping he'd turn out to be reasonable, because I really like his spouse.)
So, in one day, I went from thinking "They're all terrible" to (after purposely engaging and asking questions) finding someone that I will be happy to vote for. And I'm glad, because Mr. Q and two friends who live nearby were all waiting for my conclusion about who was the good candidate (and so I basically represent four votes, since I was doing the research for everyone).
Win for the inquiring mind! And it is great he got back to you, QWP.
AW: The part of our national nightmare that involves listening to that man pretend to "debate" and "discuss issues" is over. Passing the ice cream and beverages of choice.
No more debates, you guys! It's the final stretch.
W: child is an absolute snot monster this morning. Didn't she just get over a cold? (We're staying home from swimming this morning. Don't want her sneezing all over the instructor.)
I just realised that it sounds like I'm telling everyone to stop debating! I mean: "Hooray! There are no debates left!"
Yes, it is a happy day!
Hooray QWP!!! I like your proactive approach to your election. Good work!
Yes, the "debates" are done. Whew! Last night was a nightmare. After the misery was over, however, I did get a chuckle out of a few articles citing the best tw$$ts of the night. Some of them were hilarious.
AW: I'm heading to the Big City on Sunday for treatment on Monday. Thank goodness! We've had almost a solid week of low pressure systems and my brain is revolting...er, my brain is holding a painful revolt against the pressure it's receiving from all sides. As a rule, my brain is not all that revolting. :)
Hooray, QWP!!! Responsiveness for the WIN!!
Sue, your brain is awesome, the pain is totally revolting.
Sue, so glad you will be off for some blessed relief on Monday! The pain cannot be helping with all the other stressies going on....
I'm unable to walk away from the train wreck, apparently, but the debate nightmare is over. I'm pleased with my candidate of choice, who is really on top of everything. He who shall not be named, however... The list of horrors is so long that a person ends up sputtering.
#TrumpBookReport is hilarious!
I'm glad that you're getting more relief, Sue. (And I laughed about the whole "revolting" business.)
Old Skool Whine: I just spent the morning rearranging the basement family room, and now I'm second-guessing everything. I feel like it all looks weird now (even though it's a far more practical layout than we had before). This is just the normal thing that happens when your eyes adjust to looking at something different, right? Because I have no energy to move around that bookcase and recliner couch again.
QWP -- stop now! Give it a few days; see how it's working!
AW: I caught the cat snuggling the dog, and the dog got embarrassed that I noticed. It was great!
W: The local supermarkets have terrible parking lots, and they are inconvenient and overwhelming. AW: Like shopping at small local markets, anyway. W: they cost more. And don't carry everything. AW: think I can get away with another day of avoiding the giant supermarkets.
Mac + cheese, with 3 kinds of leftover pasta (tricolor radiatorre; bowties; trecce dell'orto), the rest of the cream, most of the cheese in the house, variety of spices, 2% milk, dabs of wine. HEAVEN!
Sometimes a person just needs homemade mac. Passing extras.
Please do pass those extras! That sounds incredible, Kathy.
Want extras!
W: Bread machine broke.
AW: Just the bowl thingy. Ordered a replacement from Amazon
AW: We don't need no stinking machine to make bread (tho we LIKE the machine to make the bread)
AW: One loaf of plain bread and two loaves of zucchini bread (made with homemade pear sauce instead of apple sauce) are on the cooling rack.
There's a little left -- here ya go!
My daughter is a mac/cheese fanatic; but left to her own devices, she usually goes for the boxed stuff. Maybe she needs a basic cookbook for Christmas?
Oh, Liz! Can I have some, please?
Absolutely. Here you go!
Nummers!
OK, so, there was that fancy dinner in NY last night, and the men wore white tie; the women wore gowns and jewels (and at least one wore long white gloves); the cardinals wore their robes and stuff; and HRC wore -- I'm not totally sure what, having only seen the part above the podium where she spoke, but it wasn't one of those gowns displaying bustline and shoulders and jewels. Which I really thought was great!
Homemade mac and cheese and homemade bread? Yes, please! (I actually prefer bread made entirely by hand, so thank you!)
I've been quiet this week...Mr. E and I were on a retreat Monday-Thursday. We returned home Thursday to a strep-throaty Mini (though the quick strep test was negative, doctor, nurse, and mama agreed that's what she has). She's somewhat better today, following that penicillin shot, but not up to full energy levels. While we were at the pediatrician, my dying phone (an eye-fone cinco that was a hand-me-down from Mr. E) gave it up completely. So Mr. E and Mini and I went and picked a new eye-fone siete for me. It's fine but I am not one to get all excited about new technology.
Still have a sermon to write and an interview to prepare for Sunday. Did I mention this? Interview for very part time church position in a town about 45 minutes from home. It would work well for us, except for Sunday morning Baboo coordination. I think we can work it out, if they want me.
AW: Weather at retreat was perfect. Mr. E swam laps in outdoor pool on Tuesday. It was a bit chilly for me. But we both went swimming/wading/playing in the river on Wednesday. Thanks, climate change. Ahem.
Oh, and I forgot an AW: I think I have all my down ballot races figured out, so I can early vote on Monday! (our municipal elections are ostensibly non partisan, so they require a bit of additional research; and some propositions to figure out).
Go, Esperanza! Yay about the retreat, and about the job prospect. With you on techno -- really just want a phone, with camera, and no doo-dads.
Hope Mini bounces back tomorrow!
Yay for the vote!
My general rule is to vote NO on any constitutional questions unless they offer more rights to people in a way that is obvious and non-discriminatory (ie if they ever give us an opportunity to repeal the anti-gay marriage amendment.)
My other general rule is to vote YES on any bond questions, because that's the cheapest way to fund projects.
What? You still need to repeal an amendment that is unconstitutional? Huh.
Those are pretty good rules of thumb, though.
This is all very interesting to me, because unless we have a special referendum, we never vote directly about any propositions or questions: just for representatives. I think I finally have all of our picks for our municipal election, and so we're going to go and do advanced voting tomorrow. (Our election is next Wednesday, and that day's schedule is packed solid. Mr. Q was planning on skipping voting, until I showed him all the ways we can vote: there's even a drive-thru advanced polling station, and if you can't leave you home because of health or disability, you can order a mobile polling station to come to you! I wish we could adapt all of this to the provincial and national level, because voting is so convenient at the municipal level that it seems foolish to skip it.)
Esperanza: I'm glad that you guys got to have a good time at your retreat, but I'm so sorry that you came home to a sick Baboo! And appendages are crossed for your job prospect.
AW: I revamped our entire home filing system, because I acquired a massive filing cabinet for free. (We have a little filing cabinet, and we overloaded it to the point that part of it broke.) I also informed Chris that I am now in charge of the filing system (now that it's moved from his office to mine) -- other than his school and work files -- because the disorganization drove me up the wall. Also, I ordered a shredder. AND I'm going to an office supply store to buy file tabs and hanging folders. I'm so excited to get things under control at last.
W: even though I spent the whole day dusting and organizing, our living room and kitchen are utter chaos.
Side note: I just found out (because my sister just posted a link to all historical election data in our city) that we did vote on bylaws and questions up until 1994! And then didn't vote on any issue until a referendum in 2013. So strange!
Busy day, QWP! Yay for a big file cabinet! Filing space makes a difference.
DIfferent states have different laws re: propositions. California loves them. We have to vote on constitutional amendments to our unwieldy state constitution. But this time, it's just two bond proposals, which I was planning to vote in the affirmative.
AW: We hosted three new friends (new clergy in town) at our home for dinner tonight. It was so much fun! Will have to do it again soon.
Sue, Mr. E and I were just talking this week (wow, go on a retreat together and you have time to talk to each other. Who knew?) about needing to do that very thing. Now you're reminding me of that conversation, so maybe we will get something moving.
W: Mini ran fever most of the afternoon. No fall festival for her. She is not going to be happy with that decision. I'm beginning to be suspicious that she is having either an allergy attack or a cold, on top of the strep throat. Poor Baboo.
As a Californian, I kinda hate propositions. Prop 13, it capped property taxes so then our schools and roads went to hell -- still a mess on that front, and the big winners were corporate property owners. The prop that is responsible for our current death penalty was passed in 1978, and now needs to be repealed by prop. I'm all good with bond measures, usually. (No stadiums and such. Schools and infrastructure.)
Sue, that dinner sounds wonderful!
Hope Mini is feeling better.
Poor Mini. I hope she gets better quickly.
It's funny: the top conversation on the way home from our retreat was how we needed to set aside our worry about our messy and imperfect homes, and have people over more. (The speaker at our retreat differentiated between "entertaining", which has connotations of putting on a show and having to have your home look perfect and make your best meals, and "hospitality.") I'm glad that Sue reminded me that I planned to pick someone to invite over, and soon! (Okay, I'll give myself a little more of a chance to recover from Thanksgiving and travel first.)
Drive thru balloting?!?!? DROOL.
Also, when you are at the office supply store, check for wide-bottom file folders. I only just found out they existed this year and they have changed how I feel about filing
W: I have a scratchy throat. AW: It does not feel at all like strep. AW: tea with honey and lemon seems to be helping.
W: There were tears from Mini when informed that we would not be attending the fall festival.
AW: So the Baboos are creating their own fall festival in the living room. Trick or treat booths, decorations, games, etc.
W: Wow, what a mess.
I love the expanding file folders!
Esperanza, hope you're feeling better. That is the cutest, the kids having their own fall festival!
Today is the city-wide garage sale, which is just hilarious and wonderful, because there are garage sales and yard sales EVERYWHERE! I'm declining to participate, on the ground that we still have too much of everything around here, already. But my daughter LOVES this event!
AW: Forget every time I ever whined about Mr. E. He is going to Evil Big Box store to pick up a new, germ-free toothbrush for Mini. AND he's picking up a gift for them to take to a birthday party tomorrow. On a Saturday. My hero.
W: Mini's fever is gone. But this cough is disgusting. My throat is still scratchy. Sweet is still clearing her throat constantly (I don't actually think anything is wrong with her; it just has become a highly annoying habit)
Hooray for Mr. E, braving the Evil Big Box store! And SO CUTE that the Baboos made their own fall festival.
Good call about expandable file folders! I forgot about those: that would really help me with a couple of my more ridiculous files (such as: file of all the manuals in the house).
AW: I voted in our civic election (advance poll)! Everything went really smoothly. We didn't get to try the drive-thru, because that's only open on weekdays, but the rec centre wasn't busy at all. They did same-day registration with pretty much everyone, and (unlike our federal and provincial ballots, which are counted by hand), the ballot was a scantron form, which was JUST as much technology as I like to have for ballots. (I know hand-counting is slower, but at least there isn't room for hacking and hanging chads.) The funny thing is that, immediately after I enthused about how efficiently everything ran, Mr. Q caused a paper jam in the scantron machine. But I guess it's better that they learned how to fix the machine quickly today, before the real rush of election day.
OK, Mr. E goes on the Kudos list. :)
QWP -- Congrats on the early voting! And permitting them to fix the machine before the big rush!
W: My SIL fell again last night; went to the ER this morning because they noticed swelling; and she broke her upper arm again. Re-broke a break she had last year, right below a break that was surgically repaired last year. No surgery this time; ortho next week. Her illness causes a lot of falls; and also causes her to be unaware of the need for caution.
She also wasn't ambulatory when the ambulance came. SIL is ALWAYS in motion, when she's awake. The ER didn't report on that part, so it remains a mystery for now. Expect further whines. She is reportedly in good spirits, though; also unusual, but we'll take it!
Oh, Kathy. I'm sorry. Poor SIL. Poor everyone. (And "high spirits" is indeed the good variety of unusual!)
Pixies, I think I have a job. Interview went well. I think the church had decided before we sat down to talk. So some hammering out of details and following procedures correctly before it's public and official. But wow. A job. With a paycheck.
Yay, esperanza!!!!!!
:) Neighbor Lady
QWP, I sort manuals this way: one folder each for HVAC, other installed appliances (kitchen, laundry), small kitchen appliances, entertainment gizmos, other miscellaneous .
Liz on iPhone
Esperanza!!!!!! Congratulations!
Liz: the multi-folder situation is definitely what I need to do. So. Many. Manuals.
Yay, Esperanza!!! Congratulations!
The sorry truth about our manuals is that they go in a junk drawer, usually -- the same drawer that stores the mystery keys, many inherited from the people who owned this house over 20 years ago. Contracts for services usually go in the other junk drawer, the one that also holds recipes. Not the greatest system, but it's kind of a system.....
Kathy: that's exactly the system that was unfolding in our house (so many built-ins! So many drawers!), but I keep losing important things and my stress levels have been incredibly high (I was also letting important papers pile up on our desks, and by the front door, and on the kitchen sideboard...). I'm not naturally a clean and organized person, but organizing things relaxes my brain like nothing else. (A friend used to tease me that he knew I was stressed about homework because he'd find me organizing my computer music collection.)
Smashed taters and salmon. I have half and half, and am not afraid to use it on the taters. Someone else needs to make the salad.
We've always separated our manuals into Things That Stay with the House and Things We Take With Us. That system may need adjustment now that we own a home.
Supper: leftovers, 4 different meals for 4 different people. So it goes on Sunday evening around here.
QWP, I thought of you and the birthday party one-upmanship today. We went to a party this afternoon for one of Mini's classmates. Everyone in the class was invited, plus some others. It was held at the city park. Agenda: play on the playground, smash pinata, eat cake. That was it. Perfect, in my estimation.
Oh, my favorite kind of kid party, Esperanza!
Best kind of kid birthday!
In-laws brought supper over! Score!
W: scratchy throat. I think I'm catching E's cold.
Scratchy throat land here, too. It doesn't hurt bad enough for strep. It's sinus drainage (TMI and gross, sorry), which my allergy medicine regimen is only partially helping. Hot green tea with a generous dollop of honey and citrus is helping, if only temporarily. It helped enough for my voice to stick around through preaching today, so that was good.
I hope yours is short-lived.
W: Slept horribly.
AW: Closed my eyes this morning and woke up an hour later. Guess I needed that.
Oh wow, am I ever jealous of that extra hour of sleep! (And tempted, since E is in preschool right now.)
do it!
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