A couple of months ago a friend started remodeling his bathroom. Unfortunately for our friend he had more ambition than mechanical knowledge in the plumbing and electrical trades. Friend and hubby worked out a deal if Hubby would help him with the mechanicals of the bathroom and teach him some basics along the way, Friend's father-in-law, who is a roofing and siding contractor, (and actually did our roof last summer) would come help and teach Hubby how to roof on our little garage.
Anyway, Hubby spent several evenings and a few weekend days teaching Friend basic wiring and plumbing while working on his new bathroom. This last weekend while we were away for the "Kamporee" - have to write a post on that later - roofing contractor father-in-law decided this would be the weekend to tackle our garage roof and had a small dumpster delivered to our yard.
This weekend the guys crawled on the roof, stripped a layer of shingles and put up new. A huge improvement over the old which were peeling off at an alarming rate every time we had strong winds.
Sunday evening as we were admiring the new roof the discussion that we only had a 1/4 full construction dumpster that is paid the same if it's full or empty arose. Hubby and I in penny pinching ways decided to start tearing out the old cookstove chimney in the kitchen. The top had been removed during the re-roof but we still had bring going to the foundation. Why you may ask would be crazy enough to take on three stories of chimney? Well the answer is two fold 1) It will free up about 4 sq feet of closet space and in a 120 year old house that's gold 2) it will allow me to move the refrigerator from the far wall in the kitchen closer to the actual work area saving numerous steps around the kitchen per meal.
After all our roofing help left Sunday evening we fed the kids peanut butter and Jelly, told mom to fend for herself and got to work in the attic. What a hot and nasty job it proved to be. We started off gently lowering the bricks in a five gallon bucket from an attic window, but after about 5 hauls down decided to sacrifice the flowerbed. With a sickening thud we watched my struggling impatiens (they never looked like much this year) literally explode as three pound cream city bricks were dropped three stories from the attic window.
Sunday we made good progress as there was room in the attic to swing a large, heavy hammer and we reached the ceiling of the second floor pretty quickly and called it quits. Monday, Hubby asked me to try to pull the plaster and lath from the chimney in the closet so he could get a good start after work. This is wear things got interesting, since it appears when you plaster over brick, lath is not needed as plaster sticks really well to brick.
I chipped and chiseled a good part of the afternoon and removed a few rows of brick in between doing loads of laundry. This process stirs up an enormous amount of dust, both from the chipping plaster but 120 year old mortar and soot from coal cooking fires of yesteryear. Miserable and after a while forces you wash hands and clear nasal passages frequently - black boogers.
Hubby came home from work and real progress was made just simply because he's about ten times stronger than I and we got about 2/3 of the chimney removed from the second floor. Tuesday, I again entered the the dust pit and inflicted damaged on the old chimney with Hubby coming home to work it down to the floor / ceiling of the first floor. This is where we are stalled now as that will create a HUGE mess in the kitchen which will impact just about everything in the household.
Sometime on Tuesday evening Hubby and I were pointing fingers at just who's wise idea tackling this project was. Now, I'm beginning to wonder if that little bit of closet space and the ability to move the fridge is worth it.
Do you reckon you can get black lung from tearing down on sooty chimney?
WINNIE'S LITTER Just a little blog of the ins and outs and ups and downs in the life of a mom.
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Some helpful hints
Wandering around on Pinterest this morning and found this blog. A really good blog that explains how jeans should fit, how to avoid "mom jeans" and all sorts of jean atrocities. Just a good addition to the previous post since I'm donning a fashionista hat lately.
Avoiding Mom Jeans
How to fit Jeans
In all fairness it appears this blogger sells jeans at tupperware like parties so I'm not endorsing her brands or sales, however it does appear she has a good grasp of how jeans should fit and an easy to read style. Fish around on her blog as she has many good tips for fitting jeans and clothes in general and doesn't believe you need to pay $200 for a good pair of jeans.
Avoiding Mom Jeans
How to fit Jeans
In all fairness it appears this blogger sells jeans at tupperware like parties so I'm not endorsing her brands or sales, however it does appear she has a good grasp of how jeans should fit and an easy to read style. Fish around on her blog as she has many good tips for fitting jeans and clothes in general and doesn't believe you need to pay $200 for a good pair of jeans.
Monday, August 6, 2012
Age appropriate clothing
A post on FB got me to thinking tonight. The poster was espousing her views on "modest" clothing and biblical stuff, yada, yada, yada. While I believe there is a reasonable level of what is modest I'm not about to run around in Little House on the Prairie dresses, or swim in a suit that resembles the racing suits worn by Olympic swimmers (no way do I need to shave .001 seconds off my speed). It did get me to thinking about what is age appropriate for girl's and women's clothing though.
I came of age in the late 80's early 90's and frankly we wore our clothes huge. I don't remember buying T-shirts in anything but X-large in my late teens and early 20's and would often be seen sporting around in some old shirt stolen from a boyfriend or male acquaintance. Styles change - thank goodness - and more fitted clothing came into style. When it did, many people that hadn't seen me in a while thought I had lost weight, I hadn't, just simple turned in those giant t-shirts for something in a medium.
Now days, I'm in that limbo world of too old to wear the teenager/ 20 something styles and too young to graduate to the granny embroidered sweatshirts. Makes shopping a witch. The tougher time though is convincing Mom she no longer can pull off shorts that are above the knee and tank tops. I realize some women that are 61 years old can rock the look, but my mother is not one of them and she should embrace the fact she is destined to capri pants, Bermuda shorts and shirts with at least a cap sleeve. Difficult to convince her she no longer has the legs of a 20 or even 40 year old anymore.
Therefore I propose we set out to set some Universal Age Appropriate Guidelines for women's clothing. Of course these are not hard and fast rules. If you happen to age like Sophia Lauren or Jane Fonda you can sure break the rules a little. Face it though the vast majority of us don't have the cash for all that plastic surgery.
Winnie's rules:
Age 0-10 Little girls should not wear shirts that proclaim how much they like boys. Skirts should come to about the knee. Bikini's should be banned - really what keeps those tops from sliding up when there are no boobs involved? Never should anything provocative be printed on anything and shoes should have no more than a 1/2 inch heal. No make up either.
Age 11-13, yeah getting into some tougher territory here as some girls look 11, some look 18 and that's the difficult part. Skirts a little shorter, clothing a little more snug. I still don't like girls this age in a bikini, seems kinda creepy yet.
Age 14-18, a toned down version of 20 something clothes. Not too anything, tight, low cut, short, see-thru or too high a heal.
Age 18-30. Here's where I say if you got it flaunt it as long as your in the appropriate setting. Club wear is not appropriate at a funeral or your job. If you ain't got it don't flaunt it though, because regardless of your age nobody really wants to see a 260 lb woman in a bikini.
Age 30 - 50. You should be able to figure out what things flatter your body and dress to improve on your good points and camo your not so great aspects. This is the art to dressing well at any age really. Invest in staple wardrobe pieces, a good black skirt, slacks, a pair of classic pumps. Buy good quality.
Age 50+. Just because your getting to the senior set doesn't mean you have to start getting wet sets weekly and wearing "World's Greatest Grandma" sweatshirts everywhere. You can still be fashionable but take a look at your changing body. Menopause will likely have you spreading in the middle so ditch low riding pants and the high riding ones as well, go for a mid rise pant. Take a good look at your legs and arms, chances are the skin isn't where it once was so go with a longer short and skirt same with your shirts/blouse sleeves. Stay fashionable by following trends in colors and shapes and accessories.
Other general musings on women's fashions.
NEVER should you wear an item of clothing with a word printed across your behind regardless to age or how fantastic your rear end is.
Always invest in a good bra. If the girls are sagging to your belly button, hoist 'em up there, you'll look 10 lbs thinner.
Do the bend over test when trying on pants. If your undies show, or worse your butt crack those are not the pants for you (unless you plan on wearing some lower cut undies and you're sporting granny panties that day)
Where I may be old fashioned -and I probably am- unless you have wonderfully tan, smooth legs invest in some pantyhose. There is a reason the queen requires them in court.
I make no claims to be a fashion expert. Goodness if you saw the get-up I had on today you'd proclaim " Who the hell does she think she is giving fashion advice!" What can I say, I spent the day doing yard work, picking up behind Hubby and some roofers and then tearing out a chimney, hardly a fashion plate day.
I came of age in the late 80's early 90's and frankly we wore our clothes huge. I don't remember buying T-shirts in anything but X-large in my late teens and early 20's and would often be seen sporting around in some old shirt stolen from a boyfriend or male acquaintance. Styles change - thank goodness - and more fitted clothing came into style. When it did, many people that hadn't seen me in a while thought I had lost weight, I hadn't, just simple turned in those giant t-shirts for something in a medium.
Now days, I'm in that limbo world of too old to wear the teenager/ 20 something styles and too young to graduate to the granny embroidered sweatshirts. Makes shopping a witch. The tougher time though is convincing Mom she no longer can pull off shorts that are above the knee and tank tops. I realize some women that are 61 years old can rock the look, but my mother is not one of them and she should embrace the fact she is destined to capri pants, Bermuda shorts and shirts with at least a cap sleeve. Difficult to convince her she no longer has the legs of a 20 or even 40 year old anymore.
Therefore I propose we set out to set some Universal Age Appropriate Guidelines for women's clothing. Of course these are not hard and fast rules. If you happen to age like Sophia Lauren or Jane Fonda you can sure break the rules a little. Face it though the vast majority of us don't have the cash for all that plastic surgery.
Winnie's rules:
Age 0-10 Little girls should not wear shirts that proclaim how much they like boys. Skirts should come to about the knee. Bikini's should be banned - really what keeps those tops from sliding up when there are no boobs involved? Never should anything provocative be printed on anything and shoes should have no more than a 1/2 inch heal. No make up either.
Age 11-13, yeah getting into some tougher territory here as some girls look 11, some look 18 and that's the difficult part. Skirts a little shorter, clothing a little more snug. I still don't like girls this age in a bikini, seems kinda creepy yet.
Age 14-18, a toned down version of 20 something clothes. Not too anything, tight, low cut, short, see-thru or too high a heal.
Age 18-30. Here's where I say if you got it flaunt it as long as your in the appropriate setting. Club wear is not appropriate at a funeral or your job. If you ain't got it don't flaunt it though, because regardless of your age nobody really wants to see a 260 lb woman in a bikini.
Age 30 - 50. You should be able to figure out what things flatter your body and dress to improve on your good points and camo your not so great aspects. This is the art to dressing well at any age really. Invest in staple wardrobe pieces, a good black skirt, slacks, a pair of classic pumps. Buy good quality.
Age 50+. Just because your getting to the senior set doesn't mean you have to start getting wet sets weekly and wearing "World's Greatest Grandma" sweatshirts everywhere. You can still be fashionable but take a look at your changing body. Menopause will likely have you spreading in the middle so ditch low riding pants and the high riding ones as well, go for a mid rise pant. Take a good look at your legs and arms, chances are the skin isn't where it once was so go with a longer short and skirt same with your shirts/blouse sleeves. Stay fashionable by following trends in colors and shapes and accessories.
Other general musings on women's fashions.
NEVER should you wear an item of clothing with a word printed across your behind regardless to age or how fantastic your rear end is.
Always invest in a good bra. If the girls are sagging to your belly button, hoist 'em up there, you'll look 10 lbs thinner.
Do the bend over test when trying on pants. If your undies show, or worse your butt crack those are not the pants for you (unless you plan on wearing some lower cut undies and you're sporting granny panties that day)
Where I may be old fashioned -and I probably am- unless you have wonderfully tan, smooth legs invest in some pantyhose. There is a reason the queen requires them in court.
I make no claims to be a fashion expert. Goodness if you saw the get-up I had on today you'd proclaim " Who the hell does she think she is giving fashion advice!" What can I say, I spent the day doing yard work, picking up behind Hubby and some roofers and then tearing out a chimney, hardly a fashion plate day.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Birthdays
Sonny Boy turns 9 within the next few days (gonna keep the real date secret from all those crazy blog stalkers - all three of you, ha!) I can't believe it's been 9 years since I was in the hospital having a melt down because the doctor had made the pronouncement I would have to have a C-section. Really, as upset as I was they would have had an easier time if they'd have just put me under all the way as opposed to just doing a block. I think if I could have moved my legs I would have just crawled off of that OR table and told them to never mind. Don't get me wrong, I was nervous about having a baby the old fashioned way and had already made up my mind I wanted an epidural as soon as they would let me have one. But I was completely freaked out by the fact I would be laid out on a table and have my giant belly cut open like a watermelon. Other than a little terror on my part everything went fine and Sonny Boy was soon pulled out and promptly urinated on a nurse and Hubby before leaving the OR.
In the last 9 years we've certainly had our ups and downs. The infant year was a dream, honestly Sonny Boy was a really easy baby. Ages 1-2 he was a busy bee, ages 2-3 started getting rougher and ages 3-5 I questioned my sanity for ever wanting a child in the first place. Today though Sonny Boy has grown into quite the responsible kid. He still does dumb kid things of course, and his smart mouth gets him into trouble more than anything. Today he did me proud though. Today was the first day of Cub Scout day camp. I picked him up to hear a half hour monologue of the day's activities and the changes that had been made since last year's camp, needless to say he had a good time. After being home a little while his den leader called (she had been one of the adult leaders for the day) and told me a story that there had been a disagreement between Sonny Boy and a random kid - not from our group - about to whom a "walking stick" belonged to. The Den Leader told me that Sonny Boy was calm and handled the situation gracefully and kept his cool despite the other kid being a little brat. Sonny Boy gave the kid his stick in an effort to keep the peace despite the fact it was probably his stick. Den Leader said he was really the responsible, reasonable kid in the exchange and had done very well. It's nice to hear your kid does the right thing even when your not around.
With Birthdays come presents and Sonny Boy is at a hard age. He's getting too old to really be interested in many of the regular toys (besides legos) and I refuse to buy tons of video games and electronic stuff for him. What a quandary. We ended up purchasing him a radio/cd player, some sports shorts - hate those things- some BB's and a target, and a solar powered model kit along with some other paraphernalia. I'll take some cupcakes and "vader-ade" to share with his pack at camp for a "Happy Birthday" sing and we'll open presents at home. No big blast this year, though we have discussed something bigger possibly for Igor's birthday that he will benefit from like waterpark or something of that nature. No final decision have been made on that yet.
Funny how I always come up with good blog topics when I'm nowhere near the keyboard and by the time I can get around to writing them they go away like a butterflies. Either way the blog is getting stale. I suppose I need to scribble down in a notepad when I get awesome ideas, but it's difficult to write while in the shower and by the time I dry off the idea is gone.
In the last 9 years we've certainly had our ups and downs. The infant year was a dream, honestly Sonny Boy was a really easy baby. Ages 1-2 he was a busy bee, ages 2-3 started getting rougher and ages 3-5 I questioned my sanity for ever wanting a child in the first place. Today though Sonny Boy has grown into quite the responsible kid. He still does dumb kid things of course, and his smart mouth gets him into trouble more than anything. Today he did me proud though. Today was the first day of Cub Scout day camp. I picked him up to hear a half hour monologue of the day's activities and the changes that had been made since last year's camp, needless to say he had a good time. After being home a little while his den leader called (she had been one of the adult leaders for the day) and told me a story that there had been a disagreement between Sonny Boy and a random kid - not from our group - about to whom a "walking stick" belonged to. The Den Leader told me that Sonny Boy was calm and handled the situation gracefully and kept his cool despite the other kid being a little brat. Sonny Boy gave the kid his stick in an effort to keep the peace despite the fact it was probably his stick. Den Leader said he was really the responsible, reasonable kid in the exchange and had done very well. It's nice to hear your kid does the right thing even when your not around.
With Birthdays come presents and Sonny Boy is at a hard age. He's getting too old to really be interested in many of the regular toys (besides legos) and I refuse to buy tons of video games and electronic stuff for him. What a quandary. We ended up purchasing him a radio/cd player, some sports shorts - hate those things- some BB's and a target, and a solar powered model kit along with some other paraphernalia. I'll take some cupcakes and "vader-ade" to share with his pack at camp for a "Happy Birthday" sing and we'll open presents at home. No big blast this year, though we have discussed something bigger possibly for Igor's birthday that he will benefit from like waterpark or something of that nature. No final decision have been made on that yet.
Funny how I always come up with good blog topics when I'm nowhere near the keyboard and by the time I can get around to writing them they go away like a butterflies. Either way the blog is getting stale. I suppose I need to scribble down in a notepad when I get awesome ideas, but it's difficult to write while in the shower and by the time I dry off the idea is gone.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Bummer
I got up yesterday morning and discovered I could not put weight on my bad foot, in fact it hurt worse than it did the day I went into the doctor. I hobbled around and sat on my rear and decided I better go back to the doctor so I called and while I couldn't get in yesterday I did receive an appointment for bright and early this morning.
This morning my foot was still somewhat sore, but I was able to put more weight on it. I went into the doctor anyway and she took a look, took some more x-rays - this time more of foot than ankle and then put me in a giant walking boot and gave me crutches and has me lined up to see an orthopedist. The boot isn't so bad, in fact it's more comfortable than the lace up brace I had because that ended at the most sore spot of my foot wear as the boot holds my whole foot still. The thought is a sprain, but the ligaments/tendons involved are in my foot as opposed to my ankle.
The crutches are another matter. After not even a full day of use I have some pretty sore arm pits and I'm tired of the fact I can carry nothing. I'll be good at least for a week I suppose, if my arm pits hold up but I just can't imagine using the dang things for 4-6 weeks.
I had to cancel the commitment I made to chaperon a day of Cub Scout camp. I hated to do that, especially with only a week's notice since I had made the commitment months ago but hopping/crutching around day camp just didn't seem like something I was going to be able to do even if I do manage to get off the crutches.
Currently Mom has stepped up the plate and has been a help. She did several loads of laundry today, dishes and the like. She has fetched for me a good bit as well. The boys are my legs and Sherpas and I directed them around the flower beds with water jugs and hoses this afternoon.
Funny you don't realize how many times a day you jump up to do a quick something like open a blind, grab a drink, google something or even go the bathroom until doing so becomes a project.
In other news we are just treading water now. Mom seems to be doing a little better with the increase in her anti-depressants. Father-in-law doesn't seem to be doing too well. He had a scan on Monday and we haven't heard any results from that. I tough to see him as he's basically unable to eat or hold much of anything down. I suppose the inevitable is getting pretty close. Glum as it sounds I need to start making sure the boys have clothes acceptable for a funeral.
Well, I guess that's all I have to tell. Since I'm but bound for a while I'll probably manage to blog a little more.
This morning my foot was still somewhat sore, but I was able to put more weight on it. I went into the doctor anyway and she took a look, took some more x-rays - this time more of foot than ankle and then put me in a giant walking boot and gave me crutches and has me lined up to see an orthopedist. The boot isn't so bad, in fact it's more comfortable than the lace up brace I had because that ended at the most sore spot of my foot wear as the boot holds my whole foot still. The thought is a sprain, but the ligaments/tendons involved are in my foot as opposed to my ankle.
The crutches are another matter. After not even a full day of use I have some pretty sore arm pits and I'm tired of the fact I can carry nothing. I'll be good at least for a week I suppose, if my arm pits hold up but I just can't imagine using the dang things for 4-6 weeks.
I had to cancel the commitment I made to chaperon a day of Cub Scout camp. I hated to do that, especially with only a week's notice since I had made the commitment months ago but hopping/crutching around day camp just didn't seem like something I was going to be able to do even if I do manage to get off the crutches.
Currently Mom has stepped up the plate and has been a help. She did several loads of laundry today, dishes and the like. She has fetched for me a good bit as well. The boys are my legs and Sherpas and I directed them around the flower beds with water jugs and hoses this afternoon.
Funny you don't realize how many times a day you jump up to do a quick something like open a blind, grab a drink, google something or even go the bathroom until doing so becomes a project.
In other news we are just treading water now. Mom seems to be doing a little better with the increase in her anti-depressants. Father-in-law doesn't seem to be doing too well. He had a scan on Monday and we haven't heard any results from that. I tough to see him as he's basically unable to eat or hold much of anything down. I suppose the inevitable is getting pretty close. Glum as it sounds I need to start making sure the boys have clothes acceptable for a funeral.
Well, I guess that's all I have to tell. Since I'm but bound for a while I'll probably manage to blog a little more.
Monday, July 2, 2012
Chair Butt
In an effort to stay off the bum foot I've watched so much T.V. my eyes are crossing, surfed the internet till I can't think of anything else worth googling, and napped. I'm so tired of doing absolutely nothing I'm going nuts. Who would have thought doing nothing would be so agravating.
I think the foot is somewhat better. I can put more weight on it, the ankle is still pretty sore. I decided I'd cook supper tonight and by the time I got the casserole into the oven I was about ready to give in. The foot was hurting and my good foot/leg was angry about holding most of the weight. Doctor wanted me to come in if things were not better by today (it's early Mon morning) but I'm not real sure what I want to do. I think the foot is a little better, but I still have about the same amount of swelling (not a ton, just puffy) and this evening it was hurting quite bad for a while. I don't know, I'll play it be ear, or foot tomorrow.
Anyway, I guess I better get into bed and see if I can sleep. Sitting around doing nothing sure wears a girl out.
I think the foot is somewhat better. I can put more weight on it, the ankle is still pretty sore. I decided I'd cook supper tonight and by the time I got the casserole into the oven I was about ready to give in. The foot was hurting and my good foot/leg was angry about holding most of the weight. Doctor wanted me to come in if things were not better by today (it's early Mon morning) but I'm not real sure what I want to do. I think the foot is a little better, but I still have about the same amount of swelling (not a ton, just puffy) and this evening it was hurting quite bad for a while. I don't know, I'll play it be ear, or foot tomorrow.
Anyway, I guess I better get into bed and see if I can sleep. Sitting around doing nothing sure wears a girl out.
Friday, June 29, 2012
Moves Like Jagger...
Yesterday, Sonny Boy had the earworm of the song "Moves Like Jagger" floating through his head. Like his mom, he's only ever learned the hook and was singing it repeatedly through the house. I'll give you a heads up, if your not familiar with the song don't look it up, the hook will stick in your brain for weeks. Anyway I asked him if he even knew who Jagger was. While anyone under the age of 30 probably doesn't really remember actually not knowing who Mick Jagger is, I suppose it's something we must teach our young. We went on to have a nice conversation about the popularity of The Rolling Stones, The Beatles and even Frank Sinatra in comparison to their modern day counterpart of Justin Bieber. Pretty interesting to discuss the evolution of music with an almost 9 year old. I then of course found some "Stones" so he could at least have a clue as to their music. I stopped short of actually showing him a picture of Mick Jagger as I'm pretty sure he'd never believe that Jagger made girls swoon - I can hardly believe that myself as I think has/had a pretty ugly mug even as a young man.
After supper, I was going down the steps beside the retaining wall in the yard to water plants, I stepped wrong and rolled my ankle. I swore heartily and sat down and did my best not to cry. I sat there a few minutes and the pain didn't seem to get any worse and I could wiggle my toes and bear weight on the foot so I figured I was O.K. and went about my business of garden hose dragging and praying for a decent rain. After finishing my chores I came in and propped up the foot thinking it kind of hurt but no biggie. The evening moved along however and I realized my ankle was hurting worse and by the time I went to bed I was in more than a little pain. Taking a handful of ibuprofen I hobbled to bed and decided if it was still hurting in the morning I would go the doctor. It still hurt this morning.
I'm also more than a little embaressed to admit I was doing nothing dramatic to hurt my foot. Who the heck sprains their ankle simply walking down steps? I didn't even miss a step nor was I prancing around in platform sandals - just some really ugly old athletic sandals.
" I got the moves like Jagger" well at least present day Jagger, surely he's prone to dumb injury now days.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Too much to tell...
So much has happened in the last couple of weeks I'm not quite sure where to start. The last couple of weeks have been spent "up north" with the in-laws so I haven't been home overmuch.
I traveled "up north" to stay in the camper so the kids could hang out with their grandpa some before he gets "really sick". Honestly they didn't hang out overmuch but they did see him some. Grandpa isn't a real hands on kind of Grandpa. Father-in-Law has his good days and his really bad days, the really bad days seem to coincide with chemo treatments of course, and I ended up taking him to the ER because he was so dehydrated one day. I don't think the chemo is really worth the misery it is causing him, at best it will only buy him a few months extra time and I think his symptoms could be better managed. That said FIL is not very compliant with his meds and doesn't seem interested in actually trying to get food down (I know it's hard/impossible sometimes) and he is wasting away to nothing, weighing less than I do now. The worry is that he will be unable to enjoy the big family campout the end of July.
Mom's house was broken into and pilfered through. It appears nothing was stolen and we think the fools were scared off by the beeping alarm system that was busy calling no one. This prompted Mom to get going and she found a renter and left yesterday to go down and start selling junk (which she has already made good progress doing thanks to a facebook post) and she is going to move the stuff she plans on keeping to a storage unit. I spent the couple of days between me getting home, and her leaving coming up with a good strong lease and all the associated paperwork and helping her determine what stuff she should think about getting rid of. The hope is to condense a three bedroom house into a one bedroom apartment. I also took Mom to the doctor on Friday. I took her to see my regular doc, and she was ordered a slew of tests. Mom has a charity thing from the local hospital and it will cover all that stuff. The next few weeks hold a hearing test, a mammogram, an echo cardiogram, and a fun colonsoscopy for her. Not fun by any stretch of the imagination, however she wouldn't do all this without being forced. The doctor also increased her anti-depressant meds as well so I hope to see some improvement in that area withing a few weeks or I'll be calling for a med change.
Hubby has been busy with house projects. I honestly think he's keeping so busy to keep the dire thoughts of his dad at bay. While I was gone he installed some nice irrigation outlets to make watering a ton easier and today he's setting up a rain barrel system. We also knocked down our white picket fence yesterday and we are arguing about what to replace it with - it's at the top of a retaining wall so we fear leaping children.
I have been busy it seems taking care of everybody else. Typical mom stuff I suppose. With Mom gone south for a couple of weeks to deal with her house stuff ( I couldn't make the trip due to camps promised to the kids and a slew of misc appointments) the stress level has declined considerably. I surely wish we could float her an apartment.
Sonny Boy is excited for his two hour football camp tomorrow. It's a free little camp sponsored by an NFL player who went to high school here. He should have fun. After that Cub Scout camp and wrestling clinics and August holds swim lessons.
Igor is excited to go the orthotist on Tuesday because it means new shoes that are like his brother's. I went to a closer orthotist last time rather than the one the orthopedist told me to go to as it's a pain to get there. A follow-up appointment with the orthopedist let me know that the new UCB inserts were all wrong. I go the better orthotist who not only agrees but tells me that new sneakers I had purchased for the new UCB's are now garbage because they are worn unevenly. Yay, they were expensive too. Igor is also signed up for preschool volleyball - they play with a beach ball, and swimming lessons too.
Overall the summer is shaping up well, if not too busy. The really stressful things our not directly under our noses at least for the next couple of weeks and hopefully the household can take a deep breath and recover some. I've got to run, Hubby's buddy showed up to help with the irrigation project and of course grown men can't work without beer!
I traveled "up north" to stay in the camper so the kids could hang out with their grandpa some before he gets "really sick". Honestly they didn't hang out overmuch but they did see him some. Grandpa isn't a real hands on kind of Grandpa. Father-in-Law has his good days and his really bad days, the really bad days seem to coincide with chemo treatments of course, and I ended up taking him to the ER because he was so dehydrated one day. I don't think the chemo is really worth the misery it is causing him, at best it will only buy him a few months extra time and I think his symptoms could be better managed. That said FIL is not very compliant with his meds and doesn't seem interested in actually trying to get food down (I know it's hard/impossible sometimes) and he is wasting away to nothing, weighing less than I do now. The worry is that he will be unable to enjoy the big family campout the end of July.
Mom's house was broken into and pilfered through. It appears nothing was stolen and we think the fools were scared off by the beeping alarm system that was busy calling no one. This prompted Mom to get going and she found a renter and left yesterday to go down and start selling junk (which she has already made good progress doing thanks to a facebook post) and she is going to move the stuff she plans on keeping to a storage unit. I spent the couple of days between me getting home, and her leaving coming up with a good strong lease and all the associated paperwork and helping her determine what stuff she should think about getting rid of. The hope is to condense a three bedroom house into a one bedroom apartment. I also took Mom to the doctor on Friday. I took her to see my regular doc, and she was ordered a slew of tests. Mom has a charity thing from the local hospital and it will cover all that stuff. The next few weeks hold a hearing test, a mammogram, an echo cardiogram, and a fun colonsoscopy for her. Not fun by any stretch of the imagination, however she wouldn't do all this without being forced. The doctor also increased her anti-depressant meds as well so I hope to see some improvement in that area withing a few weeks or I'll be calling for a med change.
Hubby has been busy with house projects. I honestly think he's keeping so busy to keep the dire thoughts of his dad at bay. While I was gone he installed some nice irrigation outlets to make watering a ton easier and today he's setting up a rain barrel system. We also knocked down our white picket fence yesterday and we are arguing about what to replace it with - it's at the top of a retaining wall so we fear leaping children.
I have been busy it seems taking care of everybody else. Typical mom stuff I suppose. With Mom gone south for a couple of weeks to deal with her house stuff ( I couldn't make the trip due to camps promised to the kids and a slew of misc appointments) the stress level has declined considerably. I surely wish we could float her an apartment.
Sonny Boy is excited for his two hour football camp tomorrow. It's a free little camp sponsored by an NFL player who went to high school here. He should have fun. After that Cub Scout camp and wrestling clinics and August holds swim lessons.
Igor is excited to go the orthotist on Tuesday because it means new shoes that are like his brother's. I went to a closer orthotist last time rather than the one the orthopedist told me to go to as it's a pain to get there. A follow-up appointment with the orthopedist let me know that the new UCB inserts were all wrong. I go the better orthotist who not only agrees but tells me that new sneakers I had purchased for the new UCB's are now garbage because they are worn unevenly. Yay, they were expensive too. Igor is also signed up for preschool volleyball - they play with a beach ball, and swimming lessons too.
Overall the summer is shaping up well, if not too busy. The really stressful things our not directly under our noses at least for the next couple of weeks and hopefully the household can take a deep breath and recover some. I've got to run, Hubby's buddy showed up to help with the irrigation project and of course grown men can't work without beer!
Sunday, June 3, 2012
An Army Runs on it's Stomach
Food. What a trial lately. I have been more aggravated with coming up with meals and the associated mess than I can express. On average I don't mind cooking, heck even sometimes enjoy it, but the last few weeks I feel as if I spend more time cooking and doing the dishes than anything else.
Gosh, don't quote me on statistics or anything but vaguely recall reading that the average housewife in 1900 spent like 75% of working time on food/meal preparation and clean up. Despite the fact I have nifty things like a gas stove, dishwasher, refrigerator, and four grocery stores within a 10 minute drive I feel as if that percentage hasn't really changed that much for me.
Weekends are the worst because I have the whole crew here perched around waiting for meals three times a day. Hubby is good, he definitely scratches up meals and helps out, but I feel like it's a non-stop rotation of feed, clean-up, feed, clean-up, feed, clean-up all weekend and I suppose it really is.
It doesn't help matters lately that suddenly both boys have started eating like lumberjacks. I'm astonished as I watch Sonny Boy polish off two brats with buns and a nice serving of french fries last night. Igor - to whom eating was a hated chore - has started tucking in too and regularly eats a fair share of a meal too. No longer does a simple PB&J and a glass of milk do for lunch we must add some fruit, and or some yogurt before either boy declares himself satiated.
This leads to fear of the teen years. I remember being a teenager and eating like there would never be food again. Hubby replies that he can never remember ever being REALLY full (that sounds bad - he had plenty, just a hollow leg) I see images of huge roasts planned to last a couple of meals devoured in one sitting, shopping at Sam's club not in an effort to save a dime, but because I must cook five pounds of potatoes at one meal.
There really is no need to complain I suppose. We are really lucky. Food is not a luxury item, we can eat as much as we want and the money is there to buy more. Those of us in the land of plenty tend to forget that much of the world isn't that lucky and that everyday I complain that I must cook another meal, there is a mother who cannot.
Gosh, don't quote me on statistics or anything but vaguely recall reading that the average housewife in 1900 spent like 75% of working time on food/meal preparation and clean up. Despite the fact I have nifty things like a gas stove, dishwasher, refrigerator, and four grocery stores within a 10 minute drive I feel as if that percentage hasn't really changed that much for me.
Weekends are the worst because I have the whole crew here perched around waiting for meals three times a day. Hubby is good, he definitely scratches up meals and helps out, but I feel like it's a non-stop rotation of feed, clean-up, feed, clean-up, feed, clean-up all weekend and I suppose it really is.
It doesn't help matters lately that suddenly both boys have started eating like lumberjacks. I'm astonished as I watch Sonny Boy polish off two brats with buns and a nice serving of french fries last night. Igor - to whom eating was a hated chore - has started tucking in too and regularly eats a fair share of a meal too. No longer does a simple PB&J and a glass of milk do for lunch we must add some fruit, and or some yogurt before either boy declares himself satiated.
This leads to fear of the teen years. I remember being a teenager and eating like there would never be food again. Hubby replies that he can never remember ever being REALLY full (that sounds bad - he had plenty, just a hollow leg) I see images of huge roasts planned to last a couple of meals devoured in one sitting, shopping at Sam's club not in an effort to save a dime, but because I must cook five pounds of potatoes at one meal.
There really is no need to complain I suppose. We are really lucky. Food is not a luxury item, we can eat as much as we want and the money is there to buy more. Those of us in the land of plenty tend to forget that much of the world isn't that lucky and that everyday I complain that I must cook another meal, there is a mother who cannot.
Friday, June 1, 2012
Isn't it just lovely?
In a few minutes it will be June and I don't even think the high temp is going to break 60. Really?! Over the holiday weekend we were in the mid-nineties. No wonder I have a nasty cold.
My flower beds are shaping up. Over memorial day weekend we went to "Hosta Fest". I know, living on the wild side we are! After parting with too much money for plants we came home with several varieties of hostas to try and start growing large enough to start dividing to fill in a massive bed that has been barren for years. I planted a flat of impatiens, and a six pack of marigolds. I noticed today that something has gnawed all the leaves off of the marigolds. I'm suspecting rabbits. We still need to spread some mulch, particularly in the giant perennial/weed bed. The peonys finally bloomed and are now done. I was somewhat disappointed as they were not the many petaled variety and just a pale pink.
This week and next could be titled "The week of many Dr. appointments" Hubby has had a couple, Mom has one (more on that later) I've had one for my TMJ, Igor had and Orthopedic appointment today which led to an Orthotist appointment next week, and orthodontist appointment to monitor the crazy way his permanent teeth are coming in and his yearly Opthamologist appointment. Hey, notice all of Igor's appointments are with "O" doctors/specialist?
After having a heated discussion with Mom about her phone/credit card bill and realizing how terribly confused she was I decided we might be dealing with more than just depression with her. I pecked around on the Internet and found and online cognitive impairment test. The test was designed for those 50-70 but I took it anyway. I gave it my real age and took the test. I came out in the normal range for those my age, but I'm not sure it was accurate because then it said I was in the normal range for 50-70 year olds. I was confused, but at least I wasn't in the worrisome range. I pulled up on Mom's computer so it would have the buttons all the the same places etc for her and she took the test. Where I scored a 60, she had a 33 and it considered her impaired. I know it was one silly online test but honestly it confirmed what I was already guessing. I know a lot of depression symptoms overlap with cognitive issues as well, but it really concerned me. I decided to hell with this and called the local psychologist we have worked with when dealing with Sonny Boy's crazy younger years behavior and made an appointment. He said he could do testing and screening for Mom in roughly three hours and since we are paying out of pocket it won't be mind boggling expensive as he gives a discount since there is less paperwork to file. I also looked over the paperwork to start filing a disability claim as well. I'm not going to start anything on that till we get some results back from the psychologist but I think we need to get the ball rolling as it seems that is a 6 month or longer process. I'm beginning to think Mom will be living with us permanently.
Sonny Boy called me up to his room to show me a pieced together paper today. It was somewhat disturbing. The best I can gather from the story is that a girl in his class passed him a "note" today with a stick figure in a dress that had red scribbled on it and red tears coming from the eyes with the notation "I'm waring a dress" and told Sonny Boy that it was him and all the red was blood. Sonny Boy then passed it back to the girl and she tore it up, he said he offered to throw it away but only pretended to and stuffed the the shreds in his pocket to bring home and show me. I taped the pieces together and photographed them and e-mailed his teacher who going to further investigate tomorrow. I really don't know how to take this. Sonny Boy seemed disturbed and had a real sense that this wasn't a good thing and was really mean for this girl to do. I don't know really where this will lead to as I'm not real sure how innocent Sonny Boy was in the proceedings, maybe they were being silly and it got out of hand? I do know the girl in question was moved from the other second grade classroom into Sonny Boy's in March for unknown reasons. I asked a mom with kid's in that class what she knew about the girl and she didn't have any scoop. I thought girls were supposed to be nasty to other girls, not to the boys. The bigger kicker is that probably the chunkiest girl in Sonny Boy's class called him "fatty" the other day and that really got to him. Honestly! I can't buy clothes skinny AND long enough to fit him, it's even possible to see his abs on occasion. Thankfully, school will be out next week and we'll have almost three months away from 8-9 year old drama and new assortment of classmates in the fall.
Depressing is that the summer calendar has pretty much already filled up with camping, camps, family reunions, swim lessons, and football practices. I don't remember my summer having much of anything on the calendar when I was a kid. I always looked forward to school starting back so I would have something to do. How times change.
I likely will not post for a while. Next week will be filled with assorted doctor and dentist appointments, trying to pack and prepare for a long stay in the camper at Father-in-law's place with the boys and the general mayhem of the last week of school. After that the only internet I'll have will be on my smartphone and while some people may be adept at typing on a tiny little screen I am not, though you would be more likely to get a picture or two out of me. I do think some writing may occur in the evenings once the boys are bedded down in the camper as I can do that quietly.
My flower beds are shaping up. Over memorial day weekend we went to "Hosta Fest". I know, living on the wild side we are! After parting with too much money for plants we came home with several varieties of hostas to try and start growing large enough to start dividing to fill in a massive bed that has been barren for years. I planted a flat of impatiens, and a six pack of marigolds. I noticed today that something has gnawed all the leaves off of the marigolds. I'm suspecting rabbits. We still need to spread some mulch, particularly in the giant perennial/weed bed. The peonys finally bloomed and are now done. I was somewhat disappointed as they were not the many petaled variety and just a pale pink.
This week and next could be titled "The week of many Dr. appointments" Hubby has had a couple, Mom has one (more on that later) I've had one for my TMJ, Igor had and Orthopedic appointment today which led to an Orthotist appointment next week, and orthodontist appointment to monitor the crazy way his permanent teeth are coming in and his yearly Opthamologist appointment. Hey, notice all of Igor's appointments are with "O" doctors/specialist?
After having a heated discussion with Mom about her phone/credit card bill and realizing how terribly confused she was I decided we might be dealing with more than just depression with her. I pecked around on the Internet and found and online cognitive impairment test. The test was designed for those 50-70 but I took it anyway. I gave it my real age and took the test. I came out in the normal range for those my age, but I'm not sure it was accurate because then it said I was in the normal range for 50-70 year olds. I was confused, but at least I wasn't in the worrisome range. I pulled up on Mom's computer so it would have the buttons all the the same places etc for her and she took the test. Where I scored a 60, she had a 33 and it considered her impaired. I know it was one silly online test but honestly it confirmed what I was already guessing. I know a lot of depression symptoms overlap with cognitive issues as well, but it really concerned me. I decided to hell with this and called the local psychologist we have worked with when dealing with Sonny Boy's crazy younger years behavior and made an appointment. He said he could do testing and screening for Mom in roughly three hours and since we are paying out of pocket it won't be mind boggling expensive as he gives a discount since there is less paperwork to file. I also looked over the paperwork to start filing a disability claim as well. I'm not going to start anything on that till we get some results back from the psychologist but I think we need to get the ball rolling as it seems that is a 6 month or longer process. I'm beginning to think Mom will be living with us permanently.
Sonny Boy called me up to his room to show me a pieced together paper today. It was somewhat disturbing. The best I can gather from the story is that a girl in his class passed him a "note" today with a stick figure in a dress that had red scribbled on it and red tears coming from the eyes with the notation "I'm waring a dress" and told Sonny Boy that it was him and all the red was blood. Sonny Boy then passed it back to the girl and she tore it up, he said he offered to throw it away but only pretended to and stuffed the the shreds in his pocket to bring home and show me. I taped the pieces together and photographed them and e-mailed his teacher who going to further investigate tomorrow. I really don't know how to take this. Sonny Boy seemed disturbed and had a real sense that this wasn't a good thing and was really mean for this girl to do. I don't know really where this will lead to as I'm not real sure how innocent Sonny Boy was in the proceedings, maybe they were being silly and it got out of hand? I do know the girl in question was moved from the other second grade classroom into Sonny Boy's in March for unknown reasons. I asked a mom with kid's in that class what she knew about the girl and she didn't have any scoop. I thought girls were supposed to be nasty to other girls, not to the boys. The bigger kicker is that probably the chunkiest girl in Sonny Boy's class called him "fatty" the other day and that really got to him. Honestly! I can't buy clothes skinny AND long enough to fit him, it's even possible to see his abs on occasion. Thankfully, school will be out next week and we'll have almost three months away from 8-9 year old drama and new assortment of classmates in the fall.
Depressing is that the summer calendar has pretty much already filled up with camping, camps, family reunions, swim lessons, and football practices. I don't remember my summer having much of anything on the calendar when I was a kid. I always looked forward to school starting back so I would have something to do. How times change.
I likely will not post for a while. Next week will be filled with assorted doctor and dentist appointments, trying to pack and prepare for a long stay in the camper at Father-in-law's place with the boys and the general mayhem of the last week of school. After that the only internet I'll have will be on my smartphone and while some people may be adept at typing on a tiny little screen I am not, though you would be more likely to get a picture or two out of me. I do think some writing may occur in the evenings once the boys are bedded down in the camper as I can do that quietly.
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