Disorganized

 I've come a long way since moving here last July to finding a home for everything, but I still don't have systems for everything.

I have my planner and notebooks out on the table usually and try to write a thought or two and make some plans, but I'm not consistent. 

 A lot of it probably has to do with my sleep pattern - or lack of.  I try really hard to go to bed at a certain time and get up pretty close to the same time, but I fail.

I was so tired last night that I delivered the girls home, came home finished off Noreen's soup, and tried to read.  Two pages.  That's all I got.  I cleaned a few things and vacuumed where the girls had been all afternoon.  I caught up on my Scrabble moves.  The guy I'm waiting on to play did not.  I may have to "nudge" him, because I really want to play my topaz.  I played one game against the computer - Zoey - and got my all-time ever one-word score.  Quagmire for 66 points.  I decided to try quag as my first word and had an M and R.  I saved them for a few rounds and got a blank and an I, so I did it!  Too bad I didn't get it against Emily where I could have really gloated, but Zoey doesn't much care.  She went on to beat me anyway, like she usually does.

So I fell into bed really early and slept hard but woke up at 2 a.m.  I guess that's enough sleep for me, and I do like to be up in the middle of the night, knowing I can do whatever I want to.  I caught up on a few blogs I read and a smidgen of news, some emails and a few texts.  I found a list of books I had meant to request last year and went to the library website and requested about 10 of them.  That should give me a good supply coming in.

I had a cup of Taster's Choice in Mike's cup just now, and these little rituals are comforting.  It's funny, but the girls' friends Harper and Ellis have a PopPop too, and his name is Mike.  It's sad that my insomnia didn't happen during the years when he had it too.  We could have gotten a lot done during those times.  Instead, he would find bargains on Woot while I slept and email me and ask if I needed these exciting things - like a panini maker or sheets or cookware.  The things we take for granted....

I'm going to go back to bed and sleep again and probably wake up late, feeling like I've missed the best part of the day!

I did, and I'm upset about it but will carry on.

I found a series on Netflix that I'm really enjoying.  It's funny and quirky and makes me laugh besides showing me parts of the world I ordinarily would know nothing about.  There is a stand-up comedian named Jack Whitehall that I had never heard of.  I'm old.  I don't follow stand-up comedians.  He is now in his 5th season of a series called Jack Whitehall:  Travels with my Father.  He drags his proper 77-year-old British father, whom he still calls Daddy to various countries and films their adventures.  The first is Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam - that area.  I'm almost sure I wouldn't like to visit there myself, but it was funny to see the dad's reactions to things. The food markets alone that they filmed were enough to cause me to hyperventilate.  

In one episode, the "train" they were waiting for to go from one place to another turned out to be an open flat trolley with cushions, and the people got on and rode along a track to wherever they were going.  Animals too.  "Can I hold your chicken?"  If they met another trolley going the opposite way, they had to take apart the one with the fewest passengers, let the others go past, and then put theirs back together. I wonder if this is real, just thinking about it. The scenery was beautiful, and there were bits of history interspersed throughout, whether you wanted to hear it or not, some pretty horrible.  Jack was invited to teach a class of monk students because he was a former teacher - or as his father said, he played a teacher in a sit-com.  I'm looking forward to seeing where else they travel.  I'm ready to start Season 2.  I accidentally watched an episode from Season 5 before I knew what it was, and it ends up in England where they visit Winston Churchill's home.  The father is a huge fan of Churchill, and his son asks the tour guide if there is any chance his Daddy can be allowed to lie down in Winston's bed for just a moment.  It's all in fun but just what I need for these worrying times.  The fun kind of makes me unclench my hands and heart for a while.

Today's plans I hope are none.  I need to wash my sheets and pillowcases and gaze around the front porch to see how I can brighten that area up this spring.  I'm going to do research on buying a new printer.  Somehow the little plastic piece on the tray where the papers come out got broken in the move, and now papers go flying across the room when they print.  I think I might can replace the tray, but it's an old printer, so it might be time to replace it.   I'll send that job to Ryan to research for me.

One of my neighbors has noticed the cats in my window and stopped to ask if I wanted some cat food.  She had just bought two bags of food when her cat got sick and now has to have a special vet food.  I need to read about this brand and see if maybe that food CAUSED the ailment before I feed much of it to Bowie and Layla.  Even though they have half of an 18-pound bag of Iams food in a bin and two full bowls of it on their placemat, they felt the need to pull the new bag off the desk and bite their way into it during the night. Bunches of little bite marks, but they still didn't spill it. 

 I gave them a few bites when I found it, and Layla turned and walked away.  Bowie was happily munching on it  when I left him, but I will do some research on it first.  I think it's called Blue Buffalo.  These cats share one can of wet food every morning - Fancy Feast salmon and gravy - and then maybe a couple of small bowls of hard food whenever they want it during the day.  So far, they seem super healthy, so I don't want to mess with it.

It's not a bad day.  I don't have any reason to go outside, but it looks sunny and warmish in case I do.  

Unintended Free Day

 Noreen had asked me if I would follow her to the "car place" to leave her car yesterday morning.  Emily took the girls, so we were able to go about 9:00, and it was such a nice outing.  You can tell when we've been closed up for too long and only updating each other on our Wordle scores!  We didn't even mention that on the way.  It does make us realize we have to take time to get together for an in-person chat.  Nothing like it.  She was off to take someone to an appointment, so we just had a quick trip there and back.  I did learn of a new car place in case I need anything local done - fingers crossed an oil change is the only thing on my list.

She brought me a welcome bowl of soup, and I had it for lunch.  Soooo good.  

I really wanted some cornbread, but I'm still not able to find a good self-rising corn meal - or any fine corn meal - around here and keep forgetting to order any, so I gave up on that.  I'll check at the grocery store today and see what's available.  If I can interest the girls in going with me, we'll go right after school since they have early pickup and a long afternoon.

We also have a teacher work day Monday, and chances are we might have a sleepover, so I need to corral them to find out what they're liking to eat lately.  They've gone from vegan to vegetarian lately and can add more familiar foods.  They had missed eggs and milk, and that's a good treat for breakfast - yellow eggs!

We tried to get a milkshake at McDonald's last week, but the drive-through lanes were blocked, and the girls had jumped in the car without their masks, thinking we wouldn't need them, so we traveled across the street to Burger King.  They were also having troubles, and we were trapped in the line before we knew it.  It was not unpleasant waiting, but the girls decided to open their lunchboxes and snack on their leftovers from school while we waiting.  After being gone for over an hour, we came home with two vanilla milkshakes and large fries.  I managed to snag a couple of the fries, and they were nice and soft, better than McDonald's.  That's my restaurant review for today.  Oh, and I resented having to pay 27 cents for a teeny container of honey mustard sauce.  I don't carry cash around, and it was touch-and-go to dig that much out.  We had ranch dressing at home, so it was a successful trip.  Not going to fast-food places - ever lately - makes it nice when we do.  A real adventure.  There's no temptation to get a Happy Meal since they have meat in them, so it's simple choices and big smiles.  

So my morning today consists of taking the girls to school and getting my hair cut.  I'm not sure why I put that haircut off so long, but I just hate taking the time to do it.  I'm in and out in 10-15 minutes, and it's pleasant, but I just wait until I'm aggravated with it before I'll go.  Let's hope it's good walking weather.

Then the only things on my agenda are vacuuming, doing today's Wordle, and reading some in my (paper not audio) book.  I started Miss Dior on Tuesday and read a little bit every night.  I'm not sure why the interest unless I saw a good review.  I certainly don't remember anything about Christian Dior except that he was a designer and completely outside my sphere of fashion knowledge.  I'm just enjoying different types of reading lately and haven't listened to any audio books this week.

It's not just about fashion but about the wars and concentration camps and what sad and tragic lives most of that family lived.  Still, the writing is beautiful when describing their family home in France, and there are pages and pages of old black-and-white pictures.

Wordle has been interesting this week with words like rupee and nasty.  I have one miss in 25 tries and now have a streak of 13.  That makes me nervous because I have to be accountable to Emily and Noreen.  We're pretty serious about it and discuss our strategies.  Noreen introduced me to online Scrabble, but we haven't played each other.  Emily and I have an game ongoing.  She sent me a word last night and gloated and then went to bed.  We do exchange a good many insults about our choices.  I'm not so keen on looking up answers but just want to be creative with my limited vocabulary.  I have a hard time beating the computer because I seem to always get a rack of vowels, sometimes 7 of them.  So unfair.  I pick someone at random to play, and these people (or maybe bots) don't tend to play a game over the course of an hour or so and get it over with.  A word may come in at inconvenient times, and then I have to go back and figure out what I wanted to play.  I'm waiting for someone to come on now and play so I can very firmly make topaz.  IF the other person doesn't block me.  It's a 32 pointer, and you can see neither one of us is exactly tossing out anything worthwhile.

It's really nice though, and Emily and I have enjoyed it lately.  We find it hard to get together in person much, so this is our way of chatting and making each other laugh.

I'll come back with pictures of the sweet girls all ready for school in an hour and get on with my day.  Laundry is going, cats are fed, and my first cup of coffee is halfway gone.  And it's Friday!

These are my favorite socks right now.  Cozy Earth.  Before Christmas, I could hardly turn on the computer without seeing ads for this company.  It was an Oprah Pick, so Oprah told Emily to get me some for Christmas.  I got 3 pair, this one, a black pair, and a navy pair. 

They're so soft and luxurious to put on.  I wear these under boots where they don't show, and I'm hoarding the dark ones so they don't get all linty or lost or whatever happens to socks.  Emily said to go ahead and use them up because Oprah told her I could have some more when those are gone.  I really should ask for the bamboo pajamas, but I'm not sure I could relax in $200 pajamas.  Or $255 sheets.  I'd better wait until my 401K recovers a little bit.  I'm perfectly happy with my threadbare and comfy ones, but if I get new ones, Amazon also has bamboo ones for $39 with lots of colors that are probably worth trying once anyway.

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The girls really didn't want to go to the grocery store after school.  Who can blame them.  We came home and had a snack.  Then they had some school work to do.  Katherine needed to do a couple of pages of math - place value - and did great once she took the time to read the directions.  When we finished, she said, "Thank you for showing me how to do the problems with those little sticks."

Place value sticks.  I love the colors and how clear it makes place value seem, but they have always been the hardest things to snap apart.  Looks like the hot chocolate didn't get wiped up so well!  They are pretty good at cleaning up but are always in a huge hurry to get to the next thing. 

Graysen needed practice on her multiplication facts, so we did a few rounds of flash cards until she could do two sets pretty quickly.  I guess we spent a full 30 minutes on it, and then they wanted to do word searches on my phone.  I have to reset the timer for 10-minute intervals because they can't help reaching in and "helping" the other person.

It's time to take them home, and I'll be enjoying the start of the weekend with my book and a cup of coffee.  Maybe I won't venture to the Putin news tonight.  I heard him described as reptilian, and now I can't look at his eyes without thinking of that.  I feel so bad complaining about the little inconveniences I have when people are suffering so in the Ukraine.

Life Continues

 I haven't been compelled to write anything in a long time.  Life is still good, for the most part.  We've had accidents, illnesses, and a few bad weather incidents, but we're all happy and content here in our little corner of the country.  

The thing on everyone's mind besides Covid is the new war on Ukraine.  I had some girls in the car this week - little girls - and I was pleasantly surprised at how knowledgeable they were about current events.  Obviously, since there are Russian and Ukranian students in the school system, there has been a lot of discussion in the schools, counseling, advice to parents on how to handle fears and misinformation, and that is so good.  

And then I venture to Facebook just once in a month, and I find that adults who should know better are still posting misinformation about our country and our administration at a time when we should all be on the same page.  It boggles my mind how people who are supposed to be intelligent can blatantly post lies for a laugh - or maybe they only get their "information" from Fox News and all the Trump propaganda outlets.   I'm not sure why someone who was responsible for destroying careers and lives just because they didn't give him enough praise can be given a platform to keep on with his lies.  This is not the country I know.  We got through four years without any big disasters, but he won't go away, and the gullible and ignorant are perpetuating the belief that Americans are indeed stupid.  It breaks my heart that children are taught by their parents this misinformation and grow up so full of hatred.  This war is a terrible thing, but if any good can come from it - besides its end - is that it will bring world leaders to common ground.  I think there is no hope for a good many Americans who have bought into the propaganda, but who knows? 

Meanwhile, we do see a little hope of spring.  There is garden talk and vacation talk.   The girls don't read the blog yet, so I can disclose that there is a discussion of maybe Disneyland this year.  I question that because the girls aren't big fans of the Disney characters and some of the rides.  I guess there will be enough there to entertain them.  They might also go back to the Oregon coast.  I've been invited, but I'm not sure it's not too much of a trip for me.  We're looking at something more Mimi friendly, but they know I'm content just staying right here in my happy little place.  I can't wait until Noreen and I can get our coffee and tea and plop down on our front porches to discuss the people passing by and how to solve all the world's problems, and boy do we have some ideas this year!

The girls have been here most afternoons and even for a sleepover last weekend.  I'll see what pictures I have to share.  They are at such a good age for communicating with.  They make me laugh, and I just give them everything I have when I'm with them.  Such sweet things and still tolerant of my craziness.  I told Emily they would probably love to have a TikTok channel called Life with Mimi where they follow me around looking for my phone until I find it in my pocket, and they dissolve in shrieks of laughter.

Proud of Graysen for her Student of the Month award.

Bowie and Layla are allowed a few minutes in the mornings to sniff that warmer air and look for bunnies.

It's coming.  We're not used to the 50s, so it's a real treat to go without a coat.

Lots of random pictures.

Give these girls some plastic droppers and beakers and various foods from the kitchen, and they never tired of doing "experiments."

Ingredients:  Milk, buttermilk, food coloring, baking soda, grits!, salt, pepper, pizza seasoning.  Maybe more things that I don't remember.

Sleepovers are getting better and better. If they have trouble falling asleep, we turn on Sparkle stories, which are pretty droning and boring, and that does it every time.  I'm the first one to go!

I took this from the library parking lot last week.  I'm still listening to a lot of good books and checking out a few paper ones and even have watched a movie and a documentary this week.  I'll try to write more in detail about the things I read and see, so I won't forget and try to re-read or watch them.

One of the special birthday gifts from Aunt CeCe.

I'm not liking coffee as much lately, so I thought I would try Mike's old favorite, Taster's Choice.  I think I know what his opinion would be on the new jar, but it tastes pretty good for now.

Graysen is wanting to learn to type with all her fingers, and we've found some cute apps for them.

Ice-skating party for Graysen in February and her two friends, Noelle and Harper, who had birthdays in December, plus four little sisters.

 

Katherine got to surprise Graysen with her balloons and her birthday doughnut.

Makes my heart happy to see them read together.

All the babies!  I'm not sure exactly what these little things are.  It says Aqua Monkeys.  They're being nurtured pretty closely.

Graysen and Noelle having some big-girl time away from the little sisters.

I think I have more pictures but little time.  I needed to make myself get started posting again.  Maybe something interesting will happen - something GOOD and interesting - not more broken bones or news about wars.

Monday All Day

Monday was MLK Day, so the kids were home and spent the majority of it with me.  Some days are better than others, and we really enjoyed this one.  I think the girls had as good a time as I did, but I'm sure they weren't as tired as I was at the end of the day.

Emily was off work, but they needed to go make a decision on their countertops without children and run some other errands, so they dropped the girls off about 10:00, I think.  They brought Hop-Hop - who is a little older than Graysen because he was waiting in her crib when she was born - and a white version of Hop-Hop and their baby.  

I wish I had taken more pictures, but I just forgot.  I was a little nervous about helping them with their school work, just because I haven't ever gone into their portal with codes and passwords - and didn't yesterday.  Their teachers had emailed some assignments since there are so many kids out from snow and sickness lately.

Katherine had only to learn her spelling words, and she pretty much already knew them, so she got 100 on it.  By the time she gets to 3rd grade, she will know her multiplication facts also from hearing Graysen work on them.

We concentrated on 6's since she already knows, 0, 1, 2, 5, 9, 10, and 11 and most of the 3's.  I was so proud of Graysen at sticking with it.  She finds it hard to concentrate sometimes, but we made up all kinds of funny things and ways to remember them.  

I let them watch a polymer-clay-making video while I vacuumed.  They are obsessed at watching this girl, Creative Rachy from Australia, make little figures from polymer clay.  They were pretty helpful at picking up everything on the floor for me.

We had a visit from the children who live in the apartment behind us to play.  Emily and I decided they should just avoid other kids not in school with them, but I did want them to get a little sunshine and running, so I let them play a little bit.

The kids are sweet but are more used to being on their own.  I can't let mine be outside without Mimi's eagle eye, so I got a little nervous at the scooter-riding brother that they tried to run after.  Cars aren't very careful in that alley and are always backing out.  It's hard to see children.  I finally called them in for lunch, and they weren't very happy with me, but they understood, I think.

This is so much better than the past two weeks.  My table looks a little different too!

We have some mystery adventure things from 3 different countries that Emily ordered from Highlights that haven't been done yet.  That sounds exciting to me, but I haven't gotten a lot of feedback from them.

Noreen gave me this beautiful little book and card for my birthday - feather from Mike - and I was not able to write then.  I'm going to try to write in it at least weekly. 

The girls helped me with my planner and filling in all the things that will be happening in the next month.  Graysen will be 9 on the 13th of February, and that's hard to believe.  She'll have a school recognition on the 11th, a little party for their friends' kids on the 12th, and her real birthday is on the 13th.  Then Valentine's Day and another party will be on the 14th.  Busy time. 

I got to knit a little bit while they watched another video in the afternoon.  I'm making some of these Spa Day Facecloths to get back in practice.

These look a lot better than mine.  I need to get some colored cotton yarn!

;

Today it's back to school for the girls and dance for Kate afterwards.  Maybe Gray and I will review her 6's and start on her 7's.  

I finished The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller, and it was so-so.  I made myself finish it though.  I'm in the middle of One Day by David Nicholls, and it's not very good at all.  There is a movie made from the book, so I'm trying to stick with it a bit.

It's Been a Good Week

 I knew it would be an improvement over anything I've had in weeks because of being able to walk up the sidewalk to the mailbox and to the school and not have to bundle up so.  It's so refreshing to stand and have a conversation with a friend and see blue skies and smell the fresh air. 

Tried to do one necessary but not so pleasant thing every day.  Monday was a haircut and taking library books back.  Not really unpleasant, but I never know who I'll get to cut my hair, and there's always the chance of a bad haircut, although I've been going to Great Clips for 3 or 4 years and have never experienced anything bad.  Same Monday, and I can't beat $16 plus a tip anywhere else around here - that I know of.  

Tuesday it was the dentist for that tooth pain I've been having.  It's gradually ebbed some, but I was still not in the mood to be poked and prodded.  Luckily, it's a small practice - one dentist and one hygienist and one receptionist - and it's a happy and friendly place.  I had x-rays which showed nothing bad, and I then had a pretty lengthy cleaning.  Once I told her I haven't had a working right arm in almost a year and that that probably affected my flossing, she made sure she made up for it and found a few deposits in that area.  We think it's probably the fact that I chomped down on a walnut or cucumber and bruised my gum.  Whatever - by the time she was finished, I had not a twinge of pain, no heat or cold sensitivity, and could bite down on things like normal.  I was so happy when I left.  I was not looking forward to any repair or procedure, and my next appointment is in July.  I can't even imagine how July might feel right now.  

Yesterday was just getting the paperwork filled out to donate the Escape to Kars4Kids.  That's what I did with the Rendezvous last year, and I should have a nice tax deduction plus having a quick and easy transaction.  Just don't ever let their ad jingle find its way to your computer or TV.  Most annoying thing ever!

I now have a working VCR and am having SO much fun.  Ryan has been working on getting it attached to my TV since I don't use the TV for anything else, and he finally got it going.  In fact, it came on while he was working on it and showed his wife as a pre-teen in a tiny swimsuit doing choreographed dances in our front yard with her friends.  He was so thrilled, and Emily was so upset, but it turns out he loved seeing that part of her life that he missed.  We can't wait to show him videos of the parents he never met and all the relatives who are no longer living.  It can get a little sad sometimes, seeing how things used to be, but I'm so thankful for the memories.  We'll have to see about getting a few digitized.  

There are 3 high school graduations, 3 college graduations, 1 PT graduation, a law school one, a master's degree ceremony, a wedding, and a 50th anniversary.  Many dance recitals and birthday parties and Christmases and summers at the beach.  

The girls are fascinated at seeing their Mama as a child and are already copying some of her silliest moments!  

They probably can't top having a friend loan her his Porsche for a week for her high school graduation.  Brave friend!

I can't wait to spend some time watching these and traveling back in time.  We have a lot of pictures, but these are the only memories of voices we have.  Seeing my father-in-law squeeze into his World War II jacket in his mid-70s and saluting is priceless.  And being able to hear Mike giving a running commentary on his Christmas gifts just brings a big smile to my face.  

The quality isn't great - probably wasn't even too good back then - but I'll try and get a few of them on YouTube to post here in the coming weeks.  

It's early pickup today, so I need to get busy.  The girls have been extra sweet this week after our not having too much time together and can't stop giving me hugs and cuddles.  They're pushing for a sleepover tonight.  We'll see where that goes.