I didn't get much done today. BUT I did declutter my dresser top, as much as possible. It was towering with junk! I still, if you can believe it, have pictures stacked up on it that we took down when we got our room remodeled and painted. I've decided that S, since he is home feeling bored, will be tasked with the job of putting all the pictures back up on the wall. I also had a huge stack of papers that I honestly do not know how they got there. The stack was full of random things ranging from 2013 (!) to papers from just last spring. Huh? Most of it went into recycling. Some papers that I intend to keep but need to file, went into an old accordion file I found.
This sounds silly but I rearranged the magnets on my fridge. I'm thinking of making one side (the front isn't magnetized) a prayer wall. I'm always telling people I'll pray for them. And usually I do say a quick Hail Mary, but I'd like to keep a list visible so that I really am praying for them from my heart in an intentional way. Also, I want something visible for my family, in hopes it inspires them to pray more.
I made dinner and then completely forgot to clean the pots and pans afterwards. Fortunately it was a quick dinner that didn't dirty much. V has been really good at tackling the dishes during the day so there isn't as much to clean.
I did take care of one nagging thing about the guardianship of my youngest sister. So I can check that off my list.
I honestly can not remember what I did in the morning. I took B to her theater camp at 11:30. S and I went out to lunch together. We got caught in the bad rainstorm which was scary. I picked B up. And I also drove her to youth group. Well, hopefully today will be more productive. Oh B and I did a bit more literature.
My cat is going insane. He sits outside our bedroom door and scratches and meows at various points during the night. He's going into wild frenzies where he attacks ankles and scampers around the house frantically. I try playing with him, but he only plays for a minute or two. I gave him a paper bag to hide in and that made him happy for a bit. I still haven't put the halter on him to take him outside. Today feels cooler after yesterday's rainstorms. I will try today. Poor J didn't get home til very late. Due to flash flooding they closed the road by the marina for an hour. Then the traffic was so backed up, it took forever to get home. He was bushed. I am glad he didn't get caught in the actual flash flooding.
Wednesday, July 18, 2018
Tuesday, July 17, 2018
Housekeeping diary - 7/16/18
At the beginning of the summer I was going to go Konmari on my house. Well, that never even took off. BUT, then my amazing husband, for some reason, decided to clean out our study a couple weekends ago. I helped! But he did the bulk. Now there is still some stuff tucked in corners that I need to deal with but it is just so much better now. It makes me happy. I am not ashamed to have the study door open now. This has inspired me.
Poor S got laid off from work a couple weeks ago. He had an unfortunate incident with driving the golf cart with trailer attached and scraping the side of a client's truck in the parking lot. He's been very bummed. Poor guy. He is so lonely and so low in self-confidence. But it took this incident to get him to finally go to the guidance counselor at the CC and find out just what he needs to do to transfer to GMU. I have been nagging him for months now. He needs 3 more semesters and a summer course in language. That's because he has been going so slowly and never taking a full load, up until this coming fall semester. This fall, he's taking French 101 (4 credits), Environmental Science w/ lab (4 cr), Introduction to Communication (3 cr), College Success Skills (1 credit required) and flute (1 cr. I think; could be 2) again. He also really wanted to take piano again, so I said if you stick with flute, you can also take piano. He's so talented with no discipline so he flits from instrument to instrument. I said nope you are going to become a fantastic, trained flute player. I am forcing him to stick with the flute, because if he had gone to Berklee that was his instrument of choice. If he was prepared to spend 4 intense years becoming a jazz flute player that means he can commit to the instrument. Though secretly I wish he would study the organ. He is fantastic on the organ! I so didn't want my mil's organ but now that we have it, I love it. Just goes to show!
Anyway, the point of this post is to journal my housekeeping:
Monday - 10 minutes dejunking one corner of my bedroom. It's amazing how much one can get done is 10 intense minutes. I also cleaned the sink area, scrubbed the shower and toilet.
Helped S dejunk his desk and dust it. Right after he got fired, I forced him to clean up his room. It's better but still needs dejunking. He so needs order in his life, but he simply can't produce it himself. And I am not good at producing it either. He loved getting up and having to go to work. He needs external structure. I was hoping school would provide it, but most of the classes he wanted to take are at night, so I can see problems there. Somehow he will have to get up at the same time each morning and prep for his afternoon and evening classes. Oops, I got derailed again by worrying about S! Back to housekeeping!
Also a couple weeks ago I established a new mail system. I found an old metal file holder with lots of slots. It's ugly but I put it in our front hall. First slot (from left to right) is for me and R's mail. Second slot is for V. Third slot is for J, 4th is for S, last is for B. Any mail we still get for W or H, we put in a pile on top of the marble top dresser (it was my grandmother's).
I didn't do this, but B cleaned up her own room and bathroom. That's kind of her regular pattern. Her room will get so awful and then she'll get in this deep cleaning mood where she spends an entire day just blitzing through it.
Last night, I also somewhat cleaned up the kitchen. V was nice and cleaned it mid-day. I didn't quite get all the cups and plates washed but I did get most and all the pots and pans. Goal for this week is to get the kitchen cleaned each night.
Poor S got laid off from work a couple weeks ago. He had an unfortunate incident with driving the golf cart with trailer attached and scraping the side of a client's truck in the parking lot. He's been very bummed. Poor guy. He is so lonely and so low in self-confidence. But it took this incident to get him to finally go to the guidance counselor at the CC and find out just what he needs to do to transfer to GMU. I have been nagging him for months now. He needs 3 more semesters and a summer course in language. That's because he has been going so slowly and never taking a full load, up until this coming fall semester. This fall, he's taking French 101 (4 credits), Environmental Science w/ lab (4 cr), Introduction to Communication (3 cr), College Success Skills (1 credit required) and flute (1 cr. I think; could be 2) again. He also really wanted to take piano again, so I said if you stick with flute, you can also take piano. He's so talented with no discipline so he flits from instrument to instrument. I said nope you are going to become a fantastic, trained flute player. I am forcing him to stick with the flute, because if he had gone to Berklee that was his instrument of choice. If he was prepared to spend 4 intense years becoming a jazz flute player that means he can commit to the instrument. Though secretly I wish he would study the organ. He is fantastic on the organ! I so didn't want my mil's organ but now that we have it, I love it. Just goes to show!
Anyway, the point of this post is to journal my housekeeping:
Monday - 10 minutes dejunking one corner of my bedroom. It's amazing how much one can get done is 10 intense minutes. I also cleaned the sink area, scrubbed the shower and toilet.
Helped S dejunk his desk and dust it. Right after he got fired, I forced him to clean up his room. It's better but still needs dejunking. He so needs order in his life, but he simply can't produce it himself. And I am not good at producing it either. He loved getting up and having to go to work. He needs external structure. I was hoping school would provide it, but most of the classes he wanted to take are at night, so I can see problems there. Somehow he will have to get up at the same time each morning and prep for his afternoon and evening classes. Oops, I got derailed again by worrying about S! Back to housekeeping!
 |
| As you can see, J (3rd slot in from left) is the only one that actually collects his mail. |
Also a couple weeks ago I established a new mail system. I found an old metal file holder with lots of slots. It's ugly but I put it in our front hall. First slot (from left to right) is for me and R's mail. Second slot is for V. Third slot is for J, 4th is for S, last is for B. Any mail we still get for W or H, we put in a pile on top of the marble top dresser (it was my grandmother's).
I didn't do this, but B cleaned up her own room and bathroom. That's kind of her regular pattern. Her room will get so awful and then she'll get in this deep cleaning mood where she spends an entire day just blitzing through it.
Last night, I also somewhat cleaned up the kitchen. V was nice and cleaned it mid-day. I didn't quite get all the cups and plates washed but I did get most and all the pots and pans. Goal for this week is to get the kitchen cleaned each night.
Monday, July 16, 2018
House Arrest
Our cat, Clover, is under house arrest. He's an indoor/outdoor cat, half wild. We've tried to put a collar on him a couple times but he always manages to get them off. He roams the neighborhood pretty freely. Welll, someone tried to pet him and he bit her. Just a little nip, but enough to break the skin. I think this person is not familiar with cats, as she said he was lying on his back and she thought he wanted his belly rubbed like a dog would. So then she panicked because she thought he was a stray (no collar). She took herself to urgent care because she was afraid of getting rabies (if you are afraid of getting rabies - do not pet animals you think are strays!) Because she went to a doctor the doctor informed her that they were required by law to call animal control. After Clover bit her, she snapped a photo of him. Then she went around to every house asking people if they knew who this cat belonged to. Eventually, somehow she found out it was us.
Anyway, long story short, Clover has to be quarantined for 10 days indoors. Then we have to notify the health department of whether he is healthy or not. He got all his shots, so I am not worried, but now the poor cat must stay in doors. We have to be careful about going in and out now. And little D simply doesn't understand that chasing and terrorizing the cat isn't fun for the cat, like it is when humans play the "I'm gonna get you" game of chasing little D around the house and then catching him up in a big hug and a loud raspberry on the belly!
We are now on day three of confinement. We got new scratching posts for him but I've yet to see him use them. I'm worried about my newly reupholstered couches. We also got some cat toys to keep him from being bored. I can see already why indoor cats seem to get so fat. They are bored and the temptation is to overfeed them to get them to stop meowing at you. Plus they don't get enough exercise. We actually got a halter and leash too. Maybe today I will try to get it on him (good luck with that. I know he'll hate it!)
In the mornings when I sit at the laptop, I have to put my feet up on a chair or else he keeps brushing against my ankles at first patiently but then he gets frustrated at me and starts nipping. Right now though he is curled up next to me. I think he was lonely all night so he's glad I'm up.
I am wondering what we should do for the poor girl who got bitten by him. I only know her first name. I kind of want to send her flowers or something. Maybe just a note of apology. I forget that cats can annoy others, plus a lot of people think you shouldn't have outdoor cats to begin with.
We've had a lot of pet drama lately. I still forget that Tillie isn't around anymore. If I hear keys jangle I think it is her collar and tags jangling. If I hear a dog barking outside for a second I think oh no, I've forgotten to feed Tillie or something. I miss having a dog too because I really appreciate the watchdog aspect, especially when I am alone in the house.
But right now I am resolving to be a better pet owner of my two cats. Poor Thumbelina is so old and ill. She's going to go any time now. And my rascally younger cat, who got himself in trouble, needs more attention now that he's indoors all the time.
Anyway, long story short, Clover has to be quarantined for 10 days indoors. Then we have to notify the health department of whether he is healthy or not. He got all his shots, so I am not worried, but now the poor cat must stay in doors. We have to be careful about going in and out now. And little D simply doesn't understand that chasing and terrorizing the cat isn't fun for the cat, like it is when humans play the "I'm gonna get you" game of chasing little D around the house and then catching him up in a big hug and a loud raspberry on the belly!
We are now on day three of confinement. We got new scratching posts for him but I've yet to see him use them. I'm worried about my newly reupholstered couches. We also got some cat toys to keep him from being bored. I can see already why indoor cats seem to get so fat. They are bored and the temptation is to overfeed them to get them to stop meowing at you. Plus they don't get enough exercise. We actually got a halter and leash too. Maybe today I will try to get it on him (good luck with that. I know he'll hate it!)
In the mornings when I sit at the laptop, I have to put my feet up on a chair or else he keeps brushing against my ankles at first patiently but then he gets frustrated at me and starts nipping. Right now though he is curled up next to me. I think he was lonely all night so he's glad I'm up.
I am wondering what we should do for the poor girl who got bitten by him. I only know her first name. I kind of want to send her flowers or something. Maybe just a note of apology. I forget that cats can annoy others, plus a lot of people think you shouldn't have outdoor cats to begin with.
We've had a lot of pet drama lately. I still forget that Tillie isn't around anymore. If I hear keys jangle I think it is her collar and tags jangling. If I hear a dog barking outside for a second I think oh no, I've forgotten to feed Tillie or something. I miss having a dog too because I really appreciate the watchdog aspect, especially when I am alone in the house.
But right now I am resolving to be a better pet owner of my two cats. Poor Thumbelina is so old and ill. She's going to go any time now. And my rascally younger cat, who got himself in trouble, needs more attention now that he's indoors all the time.
Sunday, July 15, 2018
In The School Of The Holy Spirit
In the School of the Holy Spirit is by a new to me theologian, Jacques Philippe. This book was suggested by Father Paul who ran a spiritual classics book club at my parish. I joined initially and then got too busy to continue. But I always meant to go back when I could Well, I thought I could start it up again but, alas, Father Paul got transferred to another parish (to be pastor!) so the book club is defunct for now.
Still I am so glad I got this book. It is beautiful, wise and simple. Father Philippe is my new favorite spiritual guide and I am certainly going to read more of his books. Father Philippe is a French priest, who I think is in his early 70s. His books have become popular and have been translated into English. This particular book, In the School of the Holy Spirit was translated by Helena Scott in 2017. The book was originally published in 2002. For a view of his books go here.
This book is less than 100 pages but packed full of simple, practical wisdom. Basically, he answers the questions: how does one listen to the prompts of the Holy Spirit? How does one know whether it really is the Holy Spirit or not? How can one become better at listening so as to become holy? Father Jacques synthesizes the teachings of a well known Jesuit (who taught Sts. Issac Jogues and St. John Brebeuf), Fr. Louis Lallemont, and the teachings of St. Francis de Sales, as well as pulling wisdom from scripture itself.
This book made an excellent early morning meditation with which to start my day. I'm trying to get in the habit of reading something spiritual every morning while I sip coffee and then praying lauds (and sometimes the office of reading) each morning. I've become very hit or miss about this. But I keep trying to be consistent. I'm terrible at being consistent!
I highly, highly recommend this book. For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
Pistols for Two
Pistols for Two is a frothy bit of entertainment; a book of short stories by Georgette Heyer. They all have the same exact theme and honestly some of the paragraphs seemed to be lifted from one to the other, especially describing the men wearing blue superfine and Hessian boots. Everybody has gray eyes. Heyer certainly was masterful at telling the same story over and over again. When you read her longer novels, you get caught up in the intricacies of the plot and all the comedic situations. But when it is put into short story form, it becomes obvious that the stories are all the same and have a lot of the implausible and some downright silly romantic features too. Still, I needed a light read, so I appreciated the first half of the book. But then they began to get too repetitious, so it was a bit of an effort to finish the book, just to say I had.
For more book reviews, go to 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
Wednesday, July 11, 2018
Diary 7/10/18
Thursday my youngest turns 17!!! I'm still not sure what we are doing about it. I mean I bought some gifts a while ago. But how to spend the day and what to do for meals and cake? Must sort that out asap!
Can't remember when I woke up; possibly just before 6.
Fed cats
Read more about Holy Spirit. Finished the body of the book but it has a big appendix with many quotes, so I think I'll continue to read through that.
Didn't pray lauds again.
Sat out on back porch. Still having lovely summer weather. I think this is the 4th day in a row.
Did some facebook stuff
Blogged
Said bye to J
Made R some eggs
Cleaned kitchen somewhat - watched Latin 101 lecture
Got B up and made her tea
Took B to ortho appt - we were hoping it was the last one, but they said she still needs a bit longer before everything is completely straight.
Afterwards we decided to eat at Silver Diner - went home and picked up S. Poor S got laid off from work. They had over-hired for the summer it turns out. And then he went and had a little accident with the trailer on the golf cart and a client's pick up truck. Oops. He is very bummed. Very. He has no self-confidence, he is bored and lonely. I feel for him but I don't know what I can do.
Had pleasant meal at SD. S has decided he wants to learn more about economics.
Came home - cleaned junk out of car (B helped) so I could take it to Jiffy Lube.
Nagged B to do her math and history. Nagged S to make some drs appts.
Went and got oil, new air filter, steering wheel fluid, etc done
Had to hang out in waiting room a long time - they were busy.
Stopped at the Maple Ave Market CSA which I never got to last week, and picked up some blueberries, a big heirloom tomato, some new potatoes, an onion, some local white peaches and some eggs.
Came home two hours later and neither teen had done what I'd asked them to do. Grrr.
To rest, I don't like laying down anymore in the afternoon which is a tragedy. But it seems to leave me so woozy when I get up. So I've been nodding off in R's comfy office chair while watching either Latin 101 or Cognitive Behavioral Therapy lecture series from the Great Courses. Since I did Latin 101 this a.m. I went went with CBT - somatic breathing technique for lowering stress rate.
Was idle too long and didn't come downstairs until after 5. Realized B needed to get to youth group.
Fed cats
Started on using up leftover chicken to make chicken crepes. However, I was afraid I didn't have enough leftovers so I quickly had to try to cook up some chicken breasts that were still frozen. This delayed things. Then I realized I didn't have any chicken broth to cook the leftover chicken in. The kitchen was only half clean so I couldn't find anything and I was operating in a rush, not quite knowing what I was doing. I successfully made crepes the week B was at workcamp but I cheated and used diary. This time I used the same gf flour mix, 3 large eggs, coconut milk and ghee. But the crepes came out as mini thin omelets. And the chicken was kind of dry and not flavorful enough. Fail. V came up and helped me a lot; washing up the silverware,etc and slicing up some cantaloupe and cucumbers to have with the so called chicken crepes.
B and I ate hurriedly and then picked up a friend on the way and got them to youth group.
Came home and suddenly R and J were home and someone had gotten 5 Guys for their dinner. They were not going to touch the weird chicken crepes.
R wanted to print out V's certificates. She's finally gotten validation for her degree from Cote D'Ivoire. She's got the equivalent of a BS in computer science. Hooray! But we were out of printer paper still. So I ran to the store and got paper and kitty litter, since I kept forgetting to pick that up as well.
Home again, everyone was enjoying the Virtual Reality thing in the study. R gave it to J for Christmas but since the study was so full of junk, they haven't been able to use it til now! They are using google Earth and traveling everywhere from the Grand Canyon to Tokyo. It's very cool but there's something really weird about it too. V squeals the whole time. LOL.
V took D to the eye dr this a.m. because we've been worried about his eyes. One eye tends to turn in and he often rubs his eyes and says 'my eyes, my eyes!' As if they are really irritated. Well, he failed the little eye exam. Apparently the doctor said it isn't his eye that turns in but the other eye! So V has to get drops to put in his eyes and then go back in a week. He might need glasses. His vision is 20/20; it's just his eyes don't work together. Must be this house! All my kids had that same problem to one degree or another!!!
Proud moment: our drain upstairs in our master bathroom sink was completely clogged. I told R I thought his beard hair was the culprit - this offended him greatly. He says he never lets his beard hair get in the sink. This was so bizarre to me because of course I have cleaned up his beard shavings out of the sink for decades now. But it was one of those things where you realize that you aren't even on the same plane of reality when discussing an issue. You know, when you realize the other person is so delusional you just say, uh huh. And then deal with it yourself? LOL. Anyway, I used the baking soda and vinegar trick and it cleared the drain! It still is somewhat clogged though. But at least we didn't need the dreaded Drano. However, the one thing I really am unhappy about with our new renovated bathrooms is the cheap hardware or whatever you call it that came with the bathtubs/sinks, etc. The drains are cheap and easy to clog and hard to fix. The flusher lever on the toilets comes loose and will arbitrarily clatter to the tile floor below, usually in the middle of night when it makes the most noise and then toilet paper holders do the same thing. They work loose and then fall. It's annoying. I blame cheap labor and parts in China for all this. Somebody's making a fortune producing this cheapo stuff and charging a fortune. We paid a lot at Ferguson's for this supposedly 'top of the line' stuff. Grrr.
Hung out too long on the internet. B came home. Still moody. I remembered that she gets like this for her birthday. She's always gotten emotional about it, even back when she was very little. I gave her one present yesterday. I got her a tea subscription. Each month she'll get a different kind of tea in the mail. She seemed ok with it. But I think she's a little depressed so everything's hitting her funny. So since she seemed moody, I gave her another present. The last Penderwicks book that just came out. When she was younger she loved the Penderwicks. She had the first book on audio and listened to it over and over again. So I think she maybe liked the book. But also I think it made her nostalgic and that made her sad. When someone's depressed, no matter what, they get sad.
Went to bed and read some. Darn. Meant to take B's phone from her at night but she wanted to call Will. I told her to bring it in to our room when she was done but she never did.
Just realized I never showered!
Can't remember when I woke up; possibly just before 6.
Fed cats
Read more about Holy Spirit. Finished the body of the book but it has a big appendix with many quotes, so I think I'll continue to read through that.
Didn't pray lauds again.
Sat out on back porch. Still having lovely summer weather. I think this is the 4th day in a row.
Did some facebook stuff
Blogged
Said bye to J
Made R some eggs
Cleaned kitchen somewhat - watched Latin 101 lecture
Got B up and made her tea
Took B to ortho appt - we were hoping it was the last one, but they said she still needs a bit longer before everything is completely straight.
Afterwards we decided to eat at Silver Diner - went home and picked up S. Poor S got laid off from work. They had over-hired for the summer it turns out. And then he went and had a little accident with the trailer on the golf cart and a client's pick up truck. Oops. He is very bummed. Very. He has no self-confidence, he is bored and lonely. I feel for him but I don't know what I can do.
Had pleasant meal at SD. S has decided he wants to learn more about economics.
Came home - cleaned junk out of car (B helped) so I could take it to Jiffy Lube.
Nagged B to do her math and history. Nagged S to make some drs appts.
Went and got oil, new air filter, steering wheel fluid, etc done
Had to hang out in waiting room a long time - they were busy.
Stopped at the Maple Ave Market CSA which I never got to last week, and picked up some blueberries, a big heirloom tomato, some new potatoes, an onion, some local white peaches and some eggs.
Came home two hours later and neither teen had done what I'd asked them to do. Grrr.
To rest, I don't like laying down anymore in the afternoon which is a tragedy. But it seems to leave me so woozy when I get up. So I've been nodding off in R's comfy office chair while watching either Latin 101 or Cognitive Behavioral Therapy lecture series from the Great Courses. Since I did Latin 101 this a.m. I went went with CBT - somatic breathing technique for lowering stress rate.
Was idle too long and didn't come downstairs until after 5. Realized B needed to get to youth group.
Fed cats
Started on using up leftover chicken to make chicken crepes. However, I was afraid I didn't have enough leftovers so I quickly had to try to cook up some chicken breasts that were still frozen. This delayed things. Then I realized I didn't have any chicken broth to cook the leftover chicken in. The kitchen was only half clean so I couldn't find anything and I was operating in a rush, not quite knowing what I was doing. I successfully made crepes the week B was at workcamp but I cheated and used diary. This time I used the same gf flour mix, 3 large eggs, coconut milk and ghee. But the crepes came out as mini thin omelets. And the chicken was kind of dry and not flavorful enough. Fail. V came up and helped me a lot; washing up the silverware,etc and slicing up some cantaloupe and cucumbers to have with the so called chicken crepes.
B and I ate hurriedly and then picked up a friend on the way and got them to youth group.
Came home and suddenly R and J were home and someone had gotten 5 Guys for their dinner. They were not going to touch the weird chicken crepes.
R wanted to print out V's certificates. She's finally gotten validation for her degree from Cote D'Ivoire. She's got the equivalent of a BS in computer science. Hooray! But we were out of printer paper still. So I ran to the store and got paper and kitty litter, since I kept forgetting to pick that up as well.
Home again, everyone was enjoying the Virtual Reality thing in the study. R gave it to J for Christmas but since the study was so full of junk, they haven't been able to use it til now! They are using google Earth and traveling everywhere from the Grand Canyon to Tokyo. It's very cool but there's something really weird about it too. V squeals the whole time. LOL.
V took D to the eye dr this a.m. because we've been worried about his eyes. One eye tends to turn in and he often rubs his eyes and says 'my eyes, my eyes!' As if they are really irritated. Well, he failed the little eye exam. Apparently the doctor said it isn't his eye that turns in but the other eye! So V has to get drops to put in his eyes and then go back in a week. He might need glasses. His vision is 20/20; it's just his eyes don't work together. Must be this house! All my kids had that same problem to one degree or another!!!
Proud moment: our drain upstairs in our master bathroom sink was completely clogged. I told R I thought his beard hair was the culprit - this offended him greatly. He says he never lets his beard hair get in the sink. This was so bizarre to me because of course I have cleaned up his beard shavings out of the sink for decades now. But it was one of those things where you realize that you aren't even on the same plane of reality when discussing an issue. You know, when you realize the other person is so delusional you just say, uh huh. And then deal with it yourself? LOL. Anyway, I used the baking soda and vinegar trick and it cleared the drain! It still is somewhat clogged though. But at least we didn't need the dreaded Drano. However, the one thing I really am unhappy about with our new renovated bathrooms is the cheap hardware or whatever you call it that came with the bathtubs/sinks, etc. The drains are cheap and easy to clog and hard to fix. The flusher lever on the toilets comes loose and will arbitrarily clatter to the tile floor below, usually in the middle of night when it makes the most noise and then toilet paper holders do the same thing. They work loose and then fall. It's annoying. I blame cheap labor and parts in China for all this. Somebody's making a fortune producing this cheapo stuff and charging a fortune. We paid a lot at Ferguson's for this supposedly 'top of the line' stuff. Grrr.
Hung out too long on the internet. B came home. Still moody. I remembered that she gets like this for her birthday. She's always gotten emotional about it, even back when she was very little. I gave her one present yesterday. I got her a tea subscription. Each month she'll get a different kind of tea in the mail. She seemed ok with it. But I think she's a little depressed so everything's hitting her funny. So since she seemed moody, I gave her another present. The last Penderwicks book that just came out. When she was younger she loved the Penderwicks. She had the first book on audio and listened to it over and over again. So I think she maybe liked the book. But also I think it made her nostalgic and that made her sad. When someone's depressed, no matter what, they get sad.
Went to bed and read some. Darn. Meant to take B's phone from her at night but she wanted to call Will. I told her to bring it in to our room when she was done but she never did.
Just realized I never showered!
Tuesday, July 10, 2018
Diary 7/9/18
Got up about 6
Fed cats
Made coffee and read about Holy Spirit - did not pray lauds though
Blogged, sitting outside - still having beautiful summer weather
Started to clean pots and pans, etc leftover from yesterday morning - got some done
R went to airport - another day meeting in Hartford CN - he hates having to fly to and from in 1 day
J went to work
Got B up and out to math at 8:30
Had coffee at Panera and then went shopping at H/T
p/u B and came home
Showered
Read 3 pp of Odyssey to B
Put on slow cooker chicken
Took B to her Charitable Act camp - oops turns out it starts next week! Summer schedules are crazy!
Got gas, must get oil and lube soon!
B wanted to go to Chick fil a - discovered her friends were there! So left her there with them.
Stopped at Trader Joe's which I haven't been to in a million years. Still forgot to get kitty litter. That's twice in one day!
Picked B up from friend's house and drove to therapy. Took a full hour to get there due to rush hour.
First therapy session - 1:20 minutes - good thing I remembered to bring my book! Immediately had spat with her. She was emotionally wrung out and mad at us because when she was younger she used to cover her ears with her hands saying we were too loud. This always struck us as rich because she was often the loudest and she seemed very selectively suddenly sensitive. Therapist told her that was unfair to her which has her angry at us all over again. Uh oh. Don't know if this therapy is going to work. Last thing she needs is validation of her ability to feel sorry for herself over every little slight or perceived slight. Honestly, I think she's depressed because her personality is such that she hoards every little thing and resents it so. She is a natural grudge holder. Sheesh. We need to work on curbing this flaw not inflating it!
Also, sending your kid to therapy makes one feel defensive. Like how bad a mother am I, anyway? Someone's about to hear all about everything I ever did wrong!!!
I forgot to eat lunch myself, so I was starving. The slow cooker chicken was good. I hadn't planned anything else so I just toasted some gluten free bread and put the chicken 'gravy over it and then ate a plum. Dinner! People just came and ate what they wanted.
S had been watching D since V had to go to class and B and I weren't home yet. Fed D some chicken which he liked. He's been going to a 'don't eat enough to feed a bird' phase but he really ate a lot yesterday. He's tall for not even three. He looks more 4 yo to me. He doesn't have a baby face at all.
Took D for a walk and then we sat outside and blew bubbles for a while.
V came home and put D to bed. R came home from his trip to CT. He was tired but stayed up a bit to chat with S, J and B.
J retired to his room, S and B played on the virtual reality thingie in the study. I did a little bit too. I got to go to Greece!
Oh I forgot! I spent an hour in the afternoon cleaning out the study. R did a lot of work in it over the weekend. It was full of old computer parts and odds and ends of projects he'd been working on, stuff we dumped in there, plus a ton of stuff from granddad's condo from when he moved. So now the room has space! The corners still have junk in them but at least it's are in the corners in tidier piles.
Now I want to get a sleeper loves eat to put in there to make it into a guest room again.
Went to bed and finished my book.
Fed cats
Made coffee and read about Holy Spirit - did not pray lauds though
Blogged, sitting outside - still having beautiful summer weather
Started to clean pots and pans, etc leftover from yesterday morning - got some done
R went to airport - another day meeting in Hartford CN - he hates having to fly to and from in 1 day
J went to work
Got B up and out to math at 8:30
Had coffee at Panera and then went shopping at H/T
p/u B and came home
Showered
Read 3 pp of Odyssey to B
Put on slow cooker chicken
Took B to her Charitable Act camp - oops turns out it starts next week! Summer schedules are crazy!
Got gas, must get oil and lube soon!
B wanted to go to Chick fil a - discovered her friends were there! So left her there with them.
Stopped at Trader Joe's which I haven't been to in a million years. Still forgot to get kitty litter. That's twice in one day!
Picked B up from friend's house and drove to therapy. Took a full hour to get there due to rush hour.
First therapy session - 1:20 minutes - good thing I remembered to bring my book! Immediately had spat with her. She was emotionally wrung out and mad at us because when she was younger she used to cover her ears with her hands saying we were too loud. This always struck us as rich because she was often the loudest and she seemed very selectively suddenly sensitive. Therapist told her that was unfair to her which has her angry at us all over again. Uh oh. Don't know if this therapy is going to work. Last thing she needs is validation of her ability to feel sorry for herself over every little slight or perceived slight. Honestly, I think she's depressed because her personality is such that she hoards every little thing and resents it so. She is a natural grudge holder. Sheesh. We need to work on curbing this flaw not inflating it!
Also, sending your kid to therapy makes one feel defensive. Like how bad a mother am I, anyway? Someone's about to hear all about everything I ever did wrong!!!
I forgot to eat lunch myself, so I was starving. The slow cooker chicken was good. I hadn't planned anything else so I just toasted some gluten free bread and put the chicken 'gravy over it and then ate a plum. Dinner! People just came and ate what they wanted.
S had been watching D since V had to go to class and B and I weren't home yet. Fed D some chicken which he liked. He's been going to a 'don't eat enough to feed a bird' phase but he really ate a lot yesterday. He's tall for not even three. He looks more 4 yo to me. He doesn't have a baby face at all.
Took D for a walk and then we sat outside and blew bubbles for a while.
V came home and put D to bed. R came home from his trip to CT. He was tired but stayed up a bit to chat with S, J and B.
J retired to his room, S and B played on the virtual reality thingie in the study. I did a little bit too. I got to go to Greece!
Oh I forgot! I spent an hour in the afternoon cleaning out the study. R did a lot of work in it over the weekend. It was full of old computer parts and odds and ends of projects he'd been working on, stuff we dumped in there, plus a ton of stuff from granddad's condo from when he moved. So now the room has space! The corners still have junk in them but at least it's are in the corners in tidier piles.
Now I want to get a sleeper loves eat to put in there to make it into a guest room again.
Went to bed and finished my book.
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